Chelsea face a fire sale of players this summer in order to comply with Financial Fair Play rules, according to The Times.
It comes after the club reported a net loss of £121.3m for 2021-22 – largely the result of the sanctions against Roman Abramovich.
Chelsea say the “extraordinary expenses and loss of revenue” caused by the sanctions imposed by the government on the former Blues owner following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a major impact.
The club also admitted it expects some of those limitations to last “in the coming years due to the long-term impact from restrictions on entering into new contractual arrangements”.
And it seems that the long-term picture could involve Chelsea having to sell players in order to balance the books.
The Times suggest that might include Mason Mount, who continues to be linked with Liverpool amid doubts over whether he will sign a new deal.
The loss was suffered despite an overall rise in turnover from £434.9m to £481.3m compared with the previous year.
The sanctions meant Chelsea were not allowed to sell tickets and operational spending was also halted prior to the takeover by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital at the end of May.
During the financial period, the club spent £118m on players but made an overall profit of £123.2m after selling the likes of Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Kurt Zouma and Marc Guehi over the course of the year.
The Boehly-led group have spent big since taking over at Stamford Bridge, but their outlay is not part of the published figures, which apply only up to the end of last season.