Chelsea's summer pursuit of Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho depends on whether their transfer ban is delayed by FIFA.
The Blues’ appeal against their two-window transfer ban for signing underage players was heard by a FIFA appeal committee on April 11.
They are awaiting FIFA’s response, as reported by Sport on Tuesday , and are hopeful that the transfer ban will be delayed, which will allow them to register new players.
FIFA's Appeals Committee do not usually give a timescale on when they will give their response, but other cases have been resolved within four months.
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Coutinho has been strongly linked with a return to the Premier League after struggling to settle in Spain following his £142million move from Liverpool last season.
The Brazilian would be a like-for-like replacement for Real Madrid target Eden Hazard, but as it stands Chelsea are are unable to register new players.
Manchester United are also keen on the Brazilian, who scored a wonder-strike against the Red Devils in last week's Champions League encounter at the Nou Camp.
Chelsea were hit with the ban, which runs until July 2020, in February and were also fined £460,000 for 29 breaches of FIFA’s rules on the international transfer of minors.
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Cross-border transfers of players aged under 18 are banned unless there are specific, non-football reasons for the player moving to the relevant country, although players aged over 16 can move within the European Economic Area.
At one point, FIFA was investigating more than 100 cases involving Chelsea, going back several years, but eventually charged the Blues with 92 breaches of article 19 – the rule prohibiting the registration of minors – and other charges related to the club having third-party influence over other club’s players.
Chelsea successfully defended themselves in 63 of these cases at a FIFA disciplinary committee but were found guilty of 29 illegal transfers.
Barcelona , Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have all been sanctioned for similar offences in the past and Manchester City are understood to be the next leading club in line for a sanction related to underage transfers.
