Chelsea will be in a contract pickle if things continue like this

With the season’s fate being very much up in the air, Chelsea will need to start asking questions on how contracts will work before they get in a pickle.

As of right now, the league is set to restart in early April. It is possible, given the Coronavirus is not really stopping, that the league may be further delayed.

That will raise many questions as to the format of how the season will end. Will games be shoved in tight, or will roughly the same amount of rest be afforded to players? The latter would require the Euros moving back to a new time as well.

But what may really put Chelsea in a bind is contracts. Most contracts end on 30 June. If the Premier League were to extend past then, what happens to the players that are out of contract? What about the players who would technically be under contract? And what about negotiations to try to solve all of that?

As it stands, Willy Caballero, Olivier Giroud, Willian, and Pedro would all be allowed to walk on that date. Chelsea could survive without them, especially for a game or two, but they would still be a loss. Especially so if the league goes on much later than that.

Chelsea still has plenty of time to extend their contracts if the Blues desire, but the league delay will play into negotiations. If play is still going on by 30 June, then any player that wants a new contract has much more negotiating power if the club indicates they want them to stay. None of these players should be in any rush to extend now because waiting might yield a better deal.

Then there is Hakim Ziyech and basically the entire loan army. Technically, Ziyech should join and the loanees return on 30 June due to the contract switch over. Unfortunately, it is simply unclear as to whether or not they could play for Chelsea after that or not.

It would largely depend on how exactly player registration works in this unprecedented situation. If Chelsea cannot register, it does not matter whether or not the player is theirs. Of course, that goes the other way too. Ajax would be unable to use a player they do not own just the same as loaned players would become off limits.

None of this is to say the Football Association, FIFA, and others cannot adjust for this season. But as most things have gone with Coronavirus thus far, there is little in the way of planning before the fact. These questions simply remain unanswered and there may not be a truly right solution that does not cause some club somewhere anguish.

Chelsea will have to prepare for whatever may come regardless. Contracts may need to be left on the table unsigned as the league decides what it wants to do to solve these issues and that will need to wait until after it is known when (or if) play resumes.

As with most things at the moment, wait and see is the name of the game.