Chelsea may struggle to secure top summer signings, warns Guus Hiddink
The Dutchman believes Chelsea’s likely absence from Champions League football next season could limit their ability to sign the best
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Your support makes all the difference.With the prospect of Champions League football slipping away game-by-game, Guus Hiddink has warned that his successor may struggle to bring in top names to the London club.
Ahead of his side’s clash against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, Hiddink has suggested that the Chelsea hierarchy now needs to “offer ambition” in order to attract Europe’s top players to the club.
Despite a slight upturn in performances under Hiddink – the Blues remain unbeaten since Jose Mourinho’s dismissal in December of last year – Chelsea remain 17 points adrift off the top four with the chances of Champions League looking increasingly unlikely.
Hiddink has made it clear that a new approach is needed at the club in anticipation of a season without European football.
The Chelsea boss said: “The club must also offer the ambition, even when you don’t play in the Champions League next year.
“It’s difficult but if a club with a big status can offer ambition for the future, then you can still be attractive to players.”
With Leicester and Tottenham also now in the running for European football, alongside the Premier League usuals, Chelsea will face even further competition for players from the continent.
Hiddink added: “The people who have to deal with the near future [must] look very well at what they’ll need to do to be competitive next year, how strong they must be…
“When you see the other teams in the Premier League with even greater economic possibilities to make their squads strong … I’m sure they are doing everything to be even more competitive in the championship next year.”
In an interview with The Guardian, Eden Hazard made it clear that it was Chelsea’s ability to offer Champions League football back in 2012 which played a key part in driving him to the London club.
But without this offer of Champions League football, even if the club can indeed “offer ambition”, as Hiddink says, it’s likely Chelsea could be fighting a losing battle to sign some of Europe’s most promising players this summer.
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