KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Chelsea will never be the same again. The new owner or owners will find it impossible to match the 19-trophy achievements of the last 19 years under Roman Abramovich.

The world and European champions won easily by 4-0 at Burnley on Saturday. Four second-half goals kept them third in the Premier League and they are still alive in the Champions League and FA Cup. But this is the short-term. The club’s long-term future is complex.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich wants to a quick sale before he and the club risk the UK government’s financial sanctions over the war in Ukraine. He is in such a hurry he does not want to be repaid the £1.4bn he loaned the club. Some analysts now believe Abramovich will do well to sell for half the £3bn he wants.

These sums illustrate the financial expectation which will face the new owner(s).

Money for big transfers and wages will be one problem, funding the reconstruction of Stamford Bridge will be another. Chelsea, under Abramovich, set a big-money standard which was later matched and overtaken nationally and internationally only by the likes of state-assisted Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

Chelsea’s greatest income streams are television then sponsorships. But gate receipts are important too in the accounts equation. Stamford Bridge, with a capacity of ‘only’ 41,631 is ninth in size in the Premier League. Even Abramovich, with all his financial power, has been unable to solve this problem.

Player contracts are another issue. Chelsea, under Abramovich, have not worried about the wages bill. That will change. Consider Kai Havertz and Timo Werner. Both have contracts until 2025. Chelsea will want to keep Havertz, who scored twice against Burnley, for many more years. But Werner, at £270.000-a-week, is a luxury substitute they may not afford beyond this season.

The club’s mixed-up image was muddied further after some fans chanted the name of Abramovich during the minute’s applause held in support of Ukraine before kickoff on Saturday.

Manager Thomas Tuchel, an impressive voice of sanity amid the Chelsea maelstrom, said: “It was not the moment to do this. If we show solidarity then we show it together. We take the knee together, if an important person from another club or from our club unfortunately dies, we show a minute of respect.

“It’s not the moment to give other messages, it’s a moment to show respect. We need our fans to commit to this minute of applause in the moment we do it for Ukraine.

“There is no second opinion about the situation there and they have our thoughts and our support and we should stand together as a club. It was not the moment for other messages.”

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