Chelsea transfer ban to be lifted in January

Sports Sunday 08/December/2019 23:45 PM
By: Times News Service
Chelsea transfer ban to be lifted in January

London: Chelsea will be able to sign new players in January after the Court of Arbitration for Sport halved the ban the club was slapped with by FIFA in February for irregularities in the signing of foreign players for the club's youth system.

Although the CAS accepted the club had broken the rules regarding the signing of under-18s, it said Chelsea had done so "for a significantly smaller number of players," than found by FIFA.

Chelsea had originally been banned from signing new players for two transfer windows and served the first half of the ban in the summer, although the club was able to complete the signing of Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid after the midfielder had spent the previous season on loan at Chelsea.

Christian Pulisic was also a summer addition to the squad as his transfer from Borussia Dortmund had been agreed in January, with his arrival helping offset the sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.

The lack of new arrivals has seen new Chelsea coach Frank Lampard place his faith in youth, and players such as Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Reece James have all impressed in the first half of the season, with Abraham, Mount, Tomori and Hudson-Odoi all being called up to the senior England squad.