Arsenal and Chelsea could face lengthy transfer bans, according to reports

Arsenal and Chelsea could be trouble after claims in the Spanish media that they are among the next block of clubs to be hit with transfer bans by Fifa.

The Premier League giants are named by Spanish newspaper AS as two of the clubs facing the severe punishments, with Real Madrid and city rivals Atletico and unnamed clubs in the Bundesliga and Serie A also on Fifa's hitlist. Barcelona have already served a ban on registering new players for the last two transfer windows, with summer signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal having to wait until January to turn out for the Catalan side. Barca's penalty was the result of transfer violations surrounding the signings of underage players, and while similar offences are also likely to be responsible for any discipline the English sides' receive, the piece does not go into any detail about what transfers have been investigated. The potential for any ban to be handed down to some of the Europe's biggest clubs will lend another layer of intrigue to the January transfer window as those clubs could be spurred into big spending ahead of their suspension.