Chelsea are facing a race against time to submit their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as they aim to either delay or overturn their upcoming transfer ban.
Goal understands the Blues have just five more days to present their case to CAS, with lawyers working behind the scenes to ensure they have the best possible chance of, at the very least, being able to sign new players this summer.
FIFA rejected the club's appeal to delay or cancel the two-window suspension that was placed on the Stamford Bridge outfit after they were found to have broken rules regarding the transfers of youth players.
That decision was made on May 8, with FIFA providing written reasons for their decisions immediately, which in turn gave Chelsea a 21-day deadline to lodge their appeal to CAS.
That three-week deadline passes on May 29 - coincidentally the same date as when Maurizio Sarri's side face Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku - but they have yet to present their case to those in Lausanne despite vowing to in the immediate aftermath of FIFA's ruling.
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"Chelsea FC has today received the decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee," a statement read on Chelsea's website at the time. "The club notes that the FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to partially uphold the appeal lodged by Chelsea FC against the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
"However, the club is very disappointed that the transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods was not overturned. Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Appeal Committee.
"It acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)."
Should Chelsea fail in their appeal bid then they will be unable to make any new additions to their squad until the summer of 2020, though the prospect of delaying the ban but not overturning it could open up this summer's window before then being potentially suspended until January 2021.
Regardless, the Blues will definitely have one new addition to their squad in the shape of Christian Pulisic after his move from Borussia Dortmund was completed in January before he was loaned back to the Bundesliga runners-up until the end of the 2018-19 campaign.
It is also understood by Chelsea that permanent moves for current loanees Mateo Kovacic and Gonzalo Higuain would not be affected by the ban as they are both already registered with the club.
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Quite who will be overseeing this summer's activities as manager at Stamford Bridge remains up in the air, with the Blues willing to let Maurizio Sarri leave should he wish to replace Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus.
The Serie A champions have opened initial negotiations to bring the 60-year-old to Turin, and though a £5 million ($6.3m) fee would be required to release Sarri from his contract, the Blues would otherwise not stand in the former Napoli coach's way.
Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Sarri should he depart west London having led Derby County to the Championship play-off final in his first season in charge at Pride Park.
The Rams will face Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium on Monday with a place in next season's Premier League the prize for the winner.
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