According to The Athletic, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly cannot believe former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich allowed Antonio Rudiger to join Real Madrid as a free agent last summer.

The report adds: “The Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium, who bought the club at the end of last May, could not believe the club had allowed a player of Rudiger’s pedigree to leave the club for nothing.

“They were equally dismayed that a similar situation had been allowed to develop with Andreas Christensen, whose own contract negotiations had been just as protracted and culminated in him joining Barcelona as a free agent.

“It is one of the factors they blame for the club reporting a £121.3million loss in their latest financial accounts. If they had been granted the option to sell the duo, they estimate it would have raised at least £100million.

“As it transpired, their departures under freedom of contract ended up costing Chelsea’s new regime significantly more.”