Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says he's working right through the summer break to make up for the time lost as the club's sale has dragged on.
The Premier League approved Todd Boehly's takeover yesterday in a boost to Tuchel and his summer market plans.
Transfer plans and contract renewals have been frustratingly placed on hold but Tuchel is hopeful that will all change soon, at which point he has stressed the need to act fast and smartly in order to make up for lost time in the market.
"I cannot go on holiday, it's impossible," said the German. "There are too many things to clarify and have an opinion on. It's not necessary to do everything in person but the first days I will be here anyway and around because my children are in school so the holidays will start with a bit of a delay.
"It's also normal in a situation like ours that you stay in contact and you have the possibility with Zoom and FaceTime to have calls, share opinions and to move on forward, because we need to.
"We don't really know what's going to happen - if we are able to sell, do we want to sell, do we have a chance to get alternatives? The situation is not only for us as the ones responsible for the rebuild and for transfers, it's also for the players a strange situation.
"You could feel it over a long period of time. We managed to put it aside and keep the focus but the longer it got after the international break, it had an impact on us and it still has. Let's see when we will finally have the chance to act and make up because the disadvantage in terms of timing for the rebuild is big and we have to be fast and smart."
He added: "Right now it's unsatisfying because our hands are tied and we cannot act [in the transfer market] as we want. We have clear ideas for the profiles and the characteristics of these players but there's normally a lot of work to do and it will be the same to be competitive next season. While everybody else tries to close the gap to us and while the two top teams are what they are - a benchmark of consistency - this is the situation and from there we will do our best to be competitive."
