Roman Abramovich sanctions hit Chelsea in transfer market as Thomas Tuchel denied move

The sanctions against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich appear to have cost the club the chance to sign Gabriel Slonina.

The UK government has frozen Abramovich's assets in the country due to his previous ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid the war in Ukraine. The club are now operating under a special license that does prevents them negotiating new contracts with their players.

Chelsea are also unable to bring in new players though, meaning they will have to put any possible deals they were hoping to complete on hold. Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims the Blues were in advanced talks to bring in Chicago Fire goalkeeper Slonina.

But the sanctions mean the £5million deal has now broken down. Slonina was set to be brought in over the summer before being sent back on loan to Chicago until 2023.

The USA U21 international is only 17-years-old, but has played all four of the Fire's MLS games so far this campaign, keeping three clean sheets.

Meanwhile, Mason Mount has admitted that Chelsea’s players have been kept in the dark about the crisis at Stamford Bridge following Abramovich's decision to sell the club.

He said: “I’ve been at the club since I was six years old and something like this has not happened before, so it can be a concern.

“At the beginning, and even now, we don’t really know where it’s going and what’s happening the next day. So it’s difficult. But we focus on our football and what we can do is try and win as many games as we can.

“Obviously I’m away with England, so that stuff is kind of parked and I’m focusing on England duty and what I can do while I’m away. And then, when I go back to Chelsea next week, I’m sure we will be informed about what’s going on because I haven’t heard anything