FOR TOFFEES

BLUES BLAST AS BAN IS HALVED

transfer window. The Blues had been banned from bringing in new faces for two windows, but the court slashed it in half.

Chelsea are livid the world governing body hammered them while Premier League rivals Manchester City were fined just £315,000, despite being found guilty of similar offences regarding the signing of young players.

“The approach taken by FIFA has been deeply unsatisfactory,” read a Chelsea statement.

“FIFA chose to treat Chelsea entirely differently to City for reasons that make absolutely no sense.

“FIFA accused Chelsea of having breached regulations in relation to 27 players. Of those, 16 were registered by Chelsea in exactly the same way as other Premier League clubs.

“Chelsea sought clarification about whether we needed to apply for permission. It was confirmed that they were entitled to register and no special application was required. The fact that FIFA brought charges against Chelsea was perverse.

“We are grateful this appears to have been corrected by the CAS.”

Boss Frank Lampard is ready to start spending straight away, but Chelsea have told Borussia Dortmund they will not pay the £100m they want for Jadon Sancho.

Also on Lampard’s wish list are Premier League stars Wilfried Zaha, Ben Chilwell and Nathan Ake.

Leipzig striker Timo Werner, CSKA Moscow forward Fedor Chalov, Lyon’s Moussa Dembele and Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech are also on Chelsea’s radar.

But Lampard insists he will not ditch the kids who have been the stars of their season.

“The young players won’t lose their opportunities because they are here to stay,” he said.

“If you think we’re going to line up Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and sell them, we’re not. They’re here to stay. Anything we do now will be to improve that base.”