There is a new investigation going on into Chelsea’s signing of Andreas Christensen back in 2012, as the Blues are already in trouble with regards to certain transfers of youngsters that they had made. The west London outfit received a transfer ban for a period of one year, for the incorrect signing of foreign players under the age of 18, though they have appealed against it.
The FA is now reviewing allegations with regards to there being reports of some illegal payments that were made to Andreas Christensen’s father, at the time when his move to Stamford Bridge from Brondby was made.
The west London outfit had back then reportedly employed Sten, his father as a scout on the same day that they signed the young Dane too. He was paid a sum of over £650,000 across four years, though the rule suggests that clubs can’t pay families of minors.
Previously the Premier League have fined Merseyside outfits Liverpool and Everton and also youth transfer bans for similar breaches of conduct in the past. This could mean more trouble for the west London outfit, who are already struggling with other transfer related issues.
Apart from that, their policies of signing youngsters haven’t really been the best, which is a well known fact and they have a lot of high quality stars already on loan with other top clubs across Europe. With that being said, this could mean more trouble now, if they are found guilty.
This is something that the Londoners do not need at present, as they are already facing some issues and will want to sort those out first.
An FA spokesman recently spoke to Goal and stated that, “The FA is aware of the allegations and we are reviewing them.”
If Chelsea is now handed a youth transfer ban also, it will add to their misery after being handed a two-window ban already, along with a fine of £460,000. There were issues with their policies with regards to the signing of foreign players under the age of 18, after they were found guilty of misconduct in 29 of the 92 cases FIFA reviewed.
Maurizio Sarri has other key problems that he needs to address and things just keep going from bad to worse for them. These potential bans are coming at a time when the club is in need to sign the right kind of players to suit the Italian manager’s style of football. The former Napoli main-man has struggled at present and is looking to turn things around at the club.
His signings so far haven’t really lived up to expectations, though he would liked to add more players at the end of the season. However, if the ban stays on, he might end up having some serious issues with regards to his squad and things could get really tough in the long-run.
It will be interesting to see what happens now, as Chelsea will be hoping that they can get through this phase with the best possible outcomes. If that does not happen, they could be facing a long uphill battle in the seasons to come.