Chelsea will struggle in the transfer window without Champions League football - Redknapp

Jamie Redknapp fears for Jose Mourinho's future at Stamford Bridge

JAMIE REDKNAPP believes Chelsea will struggle to attract the players they want to sign if they fail to qualify for the Champions League next season.

 

The Blues sit 14th in the Premier League table after suffering their eighth league loss of the campaign against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Chelsea are currently 14 points outside the top four as their chances of qualifying for Europe's elite competition grows tougher.

And former Liverpool defender Redknapp believes that Chelsea will struggle to compete with other teams for important signings if they can't promise them Champions League football.

 

"One of Chelsea's biggest problems now is that if they don't make the top four, and they want to give Jose Mourinho money in the summer to build a new team, a lot of players will be thinking twice about going there," Redknapp wrote in his Daily Mail column.

"The fact Chelsea pay huge wages is a bonus, but great players want to play in the Champions League. 

"They will look at all the negativity surrounding the club and in January and at the end of the season Chelsea will struggle to acquire the players they want. 

 

Chelsea suffered their eight league loss of the season against Bournemouth on Saturday

"It can be done – Manchester United attracted Angel di Maria from Real Madrid in 2014 – but it is a very different conversation if you are not in the top four."

Chelsea have all but secured their progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League this season, but could go out if they lose to Porto and Dynamo Kiev beat Maccabi Tel Aviv - and if that happens Redknapp believes it could spell the end of Mourinho's time at Stamford Bridge.

He added: "If the unthinkable happens and Chelsea lose against Porto on Wednesday night and go out of the Champions League, the pressure might just become too much for Mourinho."