Chelsea must raise over £60 million in player sales before they will be allowed by UEFA to register new players for next season’s competition, the UK Times reports.
The Blues are being forced into a balancing act due to UEFA’s financial regulations.
Despite already earning around £60 million from their Club World Cup run, Chelsea are in a race against time to offload players or risk being unable to field their summer signings in European competitions.
This comes on the back of a record-breaking fine from UEFA last week.
Despite the big payout from their Club World Cup run, that money cannot be used to offset their Champions League registration balance.
UEFA’s ‘List A’ requirement means Chelsea must ensure income from sales covers the cost of registering any new players.
As it stands, the likes of Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Estevao Willian, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr, who all arrived this summer, cannot play in UEFA competitions unless Chelsea’s incoming fees outweigh their outgoing costs.
Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana are also yet to be registered on List A.