Chelsea continue to feel the impact of sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich by the UK government this week due to alleged connections with Vladimir Putin.
The Blues went on to beat Norwich City 3-1 on Thursday night, despite the announcement coming just hours prior to kick-off, with Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz finding the target.
But ahead of kick-off, the club and its fans were sent a stern warning by both Michael Owen and Paul Robinson, who were working as pundits for a different game, with the futures of both Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Rudiger now even more uncertain.
"What’s happening in Ukraine at the moment, this news pales into insignificance really," Owen said during Amazon Prime's coverage of Leeds vs Aston Villa.
"It will have huge repercussions for Chelsea though. It’s not the final version, but I do think that Chelsea of course will have a huge upheaval, the players they’re allowed to trade, you know, the staff at the club.
"All these things that we read in that (Chelsea) statement are going to have a huge impact on the club. It’s going to be left in limbo until the government make their mind up and decide the exact sanctions.
"There will be wholesale changes, there’s no doubt about that. How that has a bearing on their future, remains to be seen."
Co-presenter Paul Robinson was in full agreement with Owen.
The former Tottenham goalkeeper pointed specifically to the doubt hanging over the futures of those out of contract players such as Rudiger who the club are now unable to negotiate with as well as Tuchel himself.
"Speaking from a football point of view, and that only, it will have a massive impact on the club," he said.
"We’re in unprecedented times, we’ve never seen this before. A manager has never had to deal with this situation before. His players will have never had to deal with this situation before.
"Players out of contract, Rudiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta, they can’t secure their futures. The club don’t know which players they’re able to sign for next year.
"The manager’s future comes into question as well. This is uncharted territory, we’re learning of new things every single minute. We saw the sponsors are going to come off the shirt for tonight’s game, so every 10 minutes the story keeps evolving and I’m sure we’ll hear more in the coming days."
