Christian Pulisic says Chelsea find themselves in a "crazy" situation following the sanctions imposed on owner Roman Abramovich by the UK government.
Abramovich was sanctioned by Boris Johnson and his colleagues for allegedly having ties to Vladmir Putin's regime. Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine exactly a month ago, triggering a bloody war in eastern Europe. Abramovich denies these allegations. The Russian oligarch's assets have subsequently been frozen, limiting the club's vital revenue streams.
Chelsea are currently operating under a special license, restricting them from completing most transactions - including selling home Premier League tickets. The government have granted them permission to sell tickets for cup, away and women's games.
The disruption hasn't stopped Chelsea's fine recent form however. Thomas Tuchel's side have won five consecutive games in the Premier League, progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
"It's been a crazy situation, to be honest, but we've been able to focus on our game and just worry about playing over there," said Pulisic, who is currently on international duty with USA.
"I'm just excited in general to come play with the US national team because I love this group of guys and I love this team and it'll be nice to have a break, see something a bit different, and then I'll be ready to go back and finish off the season strong."
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The USMNT are on the verge of qualifying for this year's World Cup in Qatar, needing to avoid defeats to Panama and Costa Rica in their upcoming games. Pulisic's side also face bitter rivals Mexico. All three games will take place over the next seven days.
USA failed to qualify for the last World Cup in Russia, having reached seven consecutive tournaments previously. They will host the World Cup in 2026 alongside Canada and Mexico, having previously staged the event in 1994.
Speaking about his international form, Pulisic added: "Everyone was questioning that I'm not playing and this and that, and I was doing fine then and I'm doing fine now. That's the beauty of this sport and this profession, and I'm feeling very good and I feel in a good rhythm at the moment. I'm really happy to now be back with the national team to really try to help the team."
Chelsea are up for sale and various parties, including a consortium led by Tory donor Nick Candy, have submitted bids to purchase the club. The Raine Group, who are brokering the deal, will name their preferred bidders shortly.
The Ricketts family, who own baseball franchise the Chicago Cubs, are aiming to win the battle but have faced resistance from Blues fans due to historical Islamophobic remarks from Joe Ricketts. The Ricketts family have confirmed Joe is not involved in the bid.
"Our family rejects any form of hate in the strongest possible terms," read a statement from the Ricketts family. "Racism and Islamphobia have no place whatsoever in our society... respect for diversity and inclusion are central to our family’s values. If we prevail in our bid for Chelsea, we commit to the club and to the fans that we will actively promote these values."
