'I will pay': Havertz offers to foot Chelsea's travel bill amid budget restrictions

Chelsea's attacking midfielder Kai Havertz has offered to pay for the Blues' travel bill from his own pocket to help his team fulfil their fixtures. This comes even as the west London club asked for the quarter-final tie to be played behind closed doors as their fans can no longer buy tickets.

The UK government has allowed the Blues to continue playing after freezing the assets of Russian owner Roman Abramovich amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. Under the terms, Chelsea is not permitted to sell tickets to any matches and can spend up to 20,000 pounds on travel to or fro fixtures.

Amidst these budget restrictions, the team may not be able to afford to pay for a flight ticket for the FA Cup clash and may be forced to undertake a bus journey instead.

Also read: FA Cup: Outrage sparks over Chelsea's request to play tie at Middlesbrough behind closed doors

However, sensational midfielder Kai Havertz has offered to foot his team's travel bill to enable Chelsea to carry on with their fixtures.

"I will pay, that's no problem. I think that's not a big deal for us," the German said at a press conference ahead of his side's Champions League clash against Lille.

"For us to come to the games is the most important thing. I think there are a lot of harder moments, harder things in the world right now than if we have to take a bus or plane to an away game. I will pay it, no problem," Havertz added.

The European champions lost the League Cup final to Liverpool on penalties last month but are in the last 16 of Champions League, where they visit Lille on Wednesday, leading 2-0 from the first leg. They are third in the Premier League with 59 points from 28 games, 11 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.

Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said the squad must adjust to the challenging situation as well as they can. "There are restrictions, and we have to deal with it. There are adjustments in the amount of staff, who is travelling, how many rooms we have in hotels and how we arrive at matches," the German said.

"It isn't about luxury and bling-bling. This is just a professional level of sports, where we play with two days between matches with our opponent having four days between matches, and we arrive with the possibilities of injuries. For that, it is better to arrive with a plane rather than a bus. We try to do it. For my understanding, we have a framework to go and play in Lille with absolutely no excuses," he added.

"Regarding these organisations, it is already more difficult to arrange things on a professional level, in the best way possible, for the FA Cup. But we will deal with it. As long as we have shirts and are alive as a team, we will be competitive and fight hard for our success," the Chelsea boss remarked.

"We owe it to the people who support us in a very invisible way. Of course, we are in the spotlight, and it is our responsibility to do so. We will do it," Tuchel concluded.