Why Chelsea can sign Mateo Kovacic despite transfer ban and what it means for Gonzalo Higuain

Chelsea are set to sign Mateo Kovacic this summer on a permanent basis despite the club being under a two-window transfer ban.

The Blues are banned from registering any new players by FIFA until the summer of 2020 after being fund guilty of breaking regulations over signing youth players.

It means that anyone that Chelsea want to bring in to replace the likes of Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill, they would not actually be allowed to play until the 2020/21 campaign.

However, with the signing of Kovacic this summer, there is a loophole in which the Blues have exploited to make sure they add to the squad.

The 25-year-old was on loan at Stamford Bridge last season as part of a swap deal in which Thibaut Courtois headed to the Santiago Bernabeu on a permanent basis.

Both clubs agreed on an option to buy clause in the contract, something which the Blues are willing to take up as they go into the summer with the transfer ban.

Chelsea are allowed to sign Kovacic as it is seen as an extension of his contract, meaning it is not a fresh registration, which would not be allowed.

There is one matter that needs to be dealt with, however, and that is that Kovacic needs to sign for the club before July 1, which is when the loan with Chelsea officially expires.

If the Blues don't wrap up the deal, estimated to be around €50million, then they will be unable to register him as a new player until next summer.

Despite not massively impressing last season, bringing in Kovacic is something of a pragmatic approach, with Cesc Fabregas having left in January and Ruben Loftus-Cheek still recovering from a serious injury.

The rule that Chelsea are getting around for Kovacic, also can be applied to Gonzalo Higuain this summer, however it is massively unlikely that Chelsea will use that option.

Higuain is not keen on prolonging his stay in west London and is set to return to Juventus to play under last season's Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri.

"He is a ​Juventus player, so when he returns from vacation, we’ll have the opportunity to talk," Sarri said in his Juventus unveiling.

"It depends on Gonzalo [if he will stay] because I get the feeling he didn’t enjoy the post-Juventus experience and was a little shaken after that season, these things happen."