Chelsea may have been given the upper hand by Real Madrid in the race to sign Kai Havertz this summer.
The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder is being heavily linked with a move away from the Bundesliga, with the Blues and Real two of the most prominent clubs understood to be in the chase.
Chelsea though may have now stolen a march of the Spanish giants, given the latest comments from Real president Florentino Perez.
Los Blancos secured their 34th La Liga title on Thursday night with victory over Villarreal, but it seems they won’t be able to flex their financial muscles as usual this summer.
The Spanish giants have been linked to the likes of Havertz, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, but with Perez admitting the club face a “really bad” situation amid the coronavirus pandemic, it seems any big signings will be off the table.
Asked about the likes of Havertz and Haaland, Perez told El Transistor: "No. The situation is really bad.
"It's difficult to ask the players to take a pay cut to help deal with the situation and then make signings like that. That can wait. Madrid will sign the best again when the situation changes.
"This year has been the most difficult for me. We lost important income from the stadium. We had to talk to the players for them to do their bit. If they hadn't voluntarily lowered their salaries, the company would have suffered losses. It's an exceptional situation.
"We receive a lot of income from the stadium, we've had losses of 25 per cent which is a lot of money. You notice it more with Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid than the other clubs because they cover their costs with television rights and we don't."
Plenty of clubs will now be on high alert after Perez’s comments, not least Chelsea, who could now look to pounce to secure the signing of Havertz.
A big summer is expected in the transfer market for Frank Lampard’s side, having already added Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner from Ajax and RB Leipzig respectively.
