The news Chelsea and their fans were dreading was confirmed this morning as Roman Abramovich was named as one of the Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK government for his links to Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid the current war in Ukraine.
Abramovich announced his intentions to sell the club last week but despite news of a number of interested parties, he has not been able to push through a deal and Boris Johnson’s government has frozen all of his assets, including Chelsea.
The club can operate but there are severe restrictions as to what they can and can’t do for the foreseeable future.
This will have a clear impact on Thomas Tuchel and his men for the remainder of the season and Manchester United could be in a position to benefit.
The May 15 fixture
United welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford on the penultimate day of the season and, with Chelsea banned from selling away tickets to anyone other than season ticket holders, there will be a diminished London presence in Manchester on May 15.
Given that only six points separate both sides (Chelsea have two games in hand), and with the uncertainty on how recent events will affect the team, United could be within touching distance of the Blues come mid-May.
There will be a real boost to United players inside Old Trafford having no, or very little, away fans inside the ground.
With United struggling at present, there remains a doubt as to whether they will still be in the race for a top-four spot but should they be, then this will be a big advantage.
The race for the top four
As it stands, Chelsea are six points clear of United in third place. With Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and United all gunning for what most would assume to be the final Champions League spot, every game matters.
But there’s no telling as to how Chelsea will react to the news of the Abramovich sanction and so there is the possibility of a Chelsea freefall over the next two months, giving United, Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham a more realistic chance of making it into the top four with an extra place wide open.
United hold an ace card in that, as already alluded to, Chelsea have to travel to Old Trafford with away support diminished. However, West Ham and Arsenal both have to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and season ticket holders will still be allowed to attend games, therefore a sizeable audience will be inside the ground. Wolves, whose top-four chances are diminishing, also have to go to Chelsea.
Summer transfer links
Inevitably, rumours around Chelsea’s star players will increase now due to the unknown future of the club. Abramovich propped Chelsea up for years and in total spent around £1.5bn over his 19-year reign.
Chelsea simply don’t make enough revenue on their own to be able to keep hold of many of their best players and so the consequence could be that several of them are sold at the end of the season.
Of course, much would depend on who replaces Abramovich as the club's owner and what their philosophy is on how to run a sports club but the likes of N’Golo Kante, Kai Havertz, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku could all be subject to offers within the next several months.
United, you would imagine, will be among the interested parties. Especially for someone like Kante and Jorginho, players United have been in dire need of for years. A Lukaku return, although unlikely, couldn’t be ruled out either given United's striker crisis.
Tuchel an option?
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel could also be another casualty of the UK’s Chelsea sanctions.
Tuchel guided Chelsea to their second Champions League trophy after only six months in the job and for all of the speculation linking United to Mauricio Pochettino, it could be that Tuchel becomes the first choice should he opt to walk away from the Blues this summer.
Tuchel would perhaps be a better option than the Argentine, given his track record of winning trophies.
Should Chelsea’s new owners scale back on the club’s ambition, then Tuchel could leave and United should make concerted efforts to snap the German coach up. Moreover, with Ralf Rangnick already at the club and Tuchel a disciple of Rangnick’s, it could be the perfect match for United.
