Man City handed double boost in Erling Haaland transfer chase amid PSG and Chelsea developments

As Manchester City played out a bore draw against Sporting on Wednesday, most casual TV viewers will have been glued to Real Madrid's stunning comeback against Paris Saint-Germain on the other channel.

City safely navigated their way through the last-16 second leg to book a quarter-final place with little fuss, while over in Madrid, Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick to dump PSG out at the first knockout stage.

Real Madrid's Champions League experts march on, while Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar begin the inquest in Paris after a result that will not have gone unnoticed in Manchester. Not only are one of City's main rivals for the Champions League out of the competition, but their defeat could also boost their chances of signing Erling Haaland.

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Then, on Thursday, Chelsea were rocked by the news that owner Roman Abramovich had been sanctioned by the UK government, with restrictions on how the football club operate imposed with immediate effect. Chelsea can fulfil their fixtures and pay wages, but cannot sell tickets, sign players or extend contracts.

Abramovich cannot, without the government's permission, sell Chelsea as he intends, and even then he would not be allowed to receive any money from a sale while under sanctions.

Pep Guardiola declined to comment in detail without knowing the full situation in a complex case, but he may secretly agree that Chelsea's new restrictions could provide City a boost on and off the pitch.

If the gossip columns are to be believed, Chelsea and PSG are two of the contenders to sign Haaland this summer. As it stands, Chelsea are out of that race, and even if they were able to sign players, would they be