Chelsea warned club risks dropping out of Premier League if Roman Abramovich does not sell before next season

Chelsea risks dropping out of the Premier League and losing many of its players if Roman Abramovich does not sell it before the next season, Government officials have warned the club.

The team has been granted a partial carve-out from the sanctions applied to its owner over his links to Vladimir Putin in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, but the current licence expires at the end of May.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is understood to have told allies that she will not continue to prop up the club for its own sake if Mr Abramovich holds on to it.

The current terms were intended to keep the club operating throughout the current season to avoid disrupting the Premier League and other competitions which include Chelsea.

A Government source said: “The clock is ticking. They simply cannot continue operating into the summer under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.”

Any Chelsea takeover would have to be approved by the Treasury and would not be allowed to benefit Mr Abramovich directly, even if he promised to give the money away after the transaction was completed.

A number of potential buyers have claimed to be in talks with the Government but officials say they will only rule on the next steps once a deal structure has been agreed.

If the club has not been sold by the time the summer transfer window opens, it will not be able to buy any new players or sell existing ones.

A Government source warned that players may seek to leave by claiming that their contract has been invalidated by the restrictions under which the team has been forced to operate. “If you’re a player who wants to leave it won’t be hard to find a way in which the current situation is not compliant with your contract,” they said.

Chelsea’s management is