Chelsea are currently demanding €130 million (£112m/$145m) for Eden Hazard, as the player pushes for a move to Real Madrid amid a potential upcoming transfer ban for the Blues.
FIFA has announced that it has rejected Chelsea's latest petition to suspend their embargo on signing senior players while the appeal is heard, leading the club to take the next step in taking matters to the Court Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
It was not a surprise for the club's directors to see their appeal thrown out by the FIFA Appeals Committee, but it was a necessary step in the legal process as the club deny any wrongdoing over the signing of Under-18 players, which is the reason that they have been issued the ban.
Should the ban remain in place, it will have wide-reaching implications, but Goal understands that it is not considered a stumbling block in the potential sale of Hazard, who has a year left on his contract, to Madrid.
The clubs are currently about €30m (£26m/$34m) apart on their valuation for Hazard, who wants to move and has the leverage of his contract situation to help secure a transfer to play under his idol, Zinedine Zidane.
Madrid are hopeful they can get Chelsea's asking price down and there is a widely held belief that they will get the deal done, even with the possibility of the transfer ban coming into play.
Chelsea are still hopeful that the ban will be suspended and manager Maurizio Sarri has said that he would like to see his club sign 'one or two' players this summer to help his side compete with Liverpool and Manchester City.
With Hazard looking likely to depart, Chelsea still have Christian Pulisic's incoming arrival to look forward to after he was signed in January for £58m ($67m) from Borussia Dortmund and then loaned back for the remainder of the 2018-19 season.
Callum Hudson-Odoi's emergence this campaign has been a considerable boost to the club and they would like to see him renew his deal even after he ruptured his Achilles tendon against Burnley a few weeks ago.
Marina Granovskaia will prove a more complicated issue for Madrid than the ban as the Chelsea director is a ruthless negotiator in the transfer market and will be keen to profit as much as possible out of any deal.
AFP
For Chelsea, a ban would affect decisions on whether they retain Gonzalo Higuain and Mateo Kovacic, who are only on loan from Juventus and Madrid, respectively, and who Sarri will instruct his club to sign permanently.
Further effects may mean the club recall loanees, with Sarri having identified 'two or three' stars from the group and also looks set to call up Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah to train with the first team upon the completion of spells at Championship clubs Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town.
Sarri wants both David Luiz and Olivier Giroud to remain at the club and the transfer ban would further incentivise Chelsea to come to a deal with the duo, as they cannot sign players in their place.
Meanwhile, Granovskaia is preparing for changes outside of the transfer market this summer as Petr Cech will return to the club to take on parts of a technical director role to add football expertise to her business acumen.