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Football

13th Sep 2018

New Fifa rule could cause a major headache for Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri will have some decisions to make

Darragh Murphy

Chelsea bloody love a good loan deal.

Chelsea are notorious for sending young players out on loan and currently have a whopping 40 players away from Stamford Bridge on temporary deals.

But the Blues could be forced to rethink their unusual transfer policy as Fifa reportedly intend to place a cap on the number of players clubs can loan out moving forward.

According to a report in Bild, via the Daily Mail, Fifa want to limit loan moves to eight-per-club, not counting players under the age of 21 and homegrown youngsters.

Only 16 of Chelsea’s 40 loanees would be exempt from the proposed restriction, meaning that Maurizio Sarri would have to reduce the remaining 24 players all the way down to eight.

Kurt Zouma, Michy Batshuayi and Tiemoue Bakayoko are three of the higher profile players the Blues currently have out on loan.

Chelsea have a famously close relationship with Eredivisie club Vitesse Arnhem and have three players – Eduardo, Charly Musonda and Jake Clarke-Salter – currently plying their trade for the Dutch team.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino hinted at the rule change earlier this year when he said that “it is important to establish a few rules as a limitation of squad sizes or the number of players out on loan.”