Can Chelsea maintain competitiveness in era of austerity?

Didn't Meghan look nice?

Partly concealed by the afterglow of the Royal Wedding earlier on Saturday, Chelsea and Manchester United emerged from the belly of Wembley Stadium to decide which team didn't have a wholly disappointing 2017-18 season. In the event, Chelsea won 1-0 via an Eden Hazard penalty dispatched with a pleasing nonchalance, but Antonio Conte will probably still lose his job.

Related: Eden Hazard's goal helps Chelsea beat United to end FA Cup drought

Judging from their expenditure since Roman Abramovich took over the club in 2003, you wouldn't expect the Blues to quibble over £10 million. However, that is the sum purported to be due to Conte if he was dismissed during the campaign, so he survived February's 4-1 defeat at Vicarage Road. Conte wore an expression worn by many of his predecessors that evening in Watford - a weariful look brought about by impending doom - but clung on; the result of Chelsea entering a period of austerity where youth-team products should actually play and when it may indirectly rent space from its downtrodden neighbour Fulham if Shahid Khan, the Cottagers' owner, completes his controversial purchase of Wembley.

Now the term is wrapped up, it's widely believed Conte's departure is imminent. But with or without the Italian, the financial constraints at the club will make it tough to continue competing for cups over the next few years.

The latest estimates of Chelsea building a new stadium are around the £1.2-billion mark. The Evening Standard's James Olley reported in April that Abramovich is unwilling to commit his own money to the project, leaving Chelsea to loan an upwards of £850 million to construct a new home larger than its current 41,631-seater abode. There is a lot of cash in the Premier League, but not to the extent that an outlay like that wouldn't significantly impose on a club's pursuit of big deals in the transfer market.

There has already been cuts in what Chelsea can do - evidenced in the club being strong-armed by Manchester United for Romelu Lukaku last summer - and those changes that have hampered Conte's relationship with the club's board were displayed in his starting XI in the FA Cup showpiece.

There was no place in the squad for Danny Drinkwater; freebie second-choice goalkeeper Willy Caballero was dropped to the bench after playing each of the six FA Cup matches preceding the final, and sat nearby fellow unused substitutes Ross Barkley and Davide Zappacosta; Alvaro Morata was granted a run out, but only after 89 minutes had elapsed.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Olivier Giroud, Antonio Rudiger, and Tiemoue Bakayoko all started but were outshone by players with longer spells at Chelsea. N'Golo Kante was particularly impressive when Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas temporarily left him alone in the middle, sweeping up with an unmatched six tackles and four interceptions - the latter number only beaten by teammate Cesar Azpilicueta.

Even after a victory, Conte couldn't resist alluding to the club's restrictive transfer policy in the post-match press conference.

"There is also the possibility that, with this group of players, we did the maximum," he offered, as reported by The Independent's Miguel Delaney.

If Conte makes his expected exit, it will be an unappetising vacancy for some of Europe's more esteemed managers. Some acquisitions can be made, but to conduct the raft of statement deals that often follow a high-profile appointment would be difficult. For this reason, Maurizio Sarri, who prides himself on working with what he has and not interfering with transfers, would have been an ideal hire, but he is apparently in talks with Napoli over extending his stay.

There can't be just concern over incoming deals too. Hazard, the match-winner in Saturday's final and arguably the club's best player this season despite an "off-year," insists he's happy in London, but did confess that his delays in committing to longer paperwork at Chelsea don't just relate to him focusing on Belgium's upcoming World Cup campaign.

"I'm waiting for new players next season. I want good players, because I want to win the Premier League next season," the 27-year-old said earlier this week.

Real Madrid and Manchester City are said to be monitoring developments on Hazard's contract.

Chelsea's move closer to self-sufficiency is commendable - the conveyor belt of talent from the academy should be utilised, and the club's net spend over recent seasons is refreshingly low - but to appease its managers and standout playing staff, and to maintain domestic and continental competitiveness, there needs to be a clever balancing act. An example has been set by Tottenham Hotspur, where youth-teamers have graduated to the senior fold and important players wedded to the philosophy had been tied down under long-term contracts, reducing the financial hit of this summer's move to a new stadium.

But a warning should be heeded that the side in the north pocket of the capital hasn't procured silverware since the League Cup in 2008. A record like that isn't tolerated at Chelsea, so the club needs to find a way to be fiscally responsible yet successful while Stamford Bridge is paid off.