Former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot fears the absence of Champions League football is what sets to drive the Blues’ key players away from the club this summer, Goal reports.
Chelsea could lose Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Willian this summer with all being linked with moves to La Liga.
Chelsea could only manage a fifth-place finish last season under Antonio Conte meaning that the Blues will miss out on Champions League football this upcoming season.
New Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has succesfully managed to lure Jorginho from Napoli to Stamford Bridge, but Melchiot spoke to talkSPORT of the challenges facing Chelsea due to the lack of Champions League football.
They want to play in a team that has enough quality to complete to win the Champions League and Premier League titles.
Clubs like Madrid or Barcelona, they don’t have that problem.
And as a player, if you’re at a club like Chelsea and you’re playing at the top of the league, you don’t have to worry about it either.
But when you’re not, that’s when you have to consider it [joining another club].
By the end of your career you want to win as many trophies as you can and you do whatever it takes to get there.
Of course you love the club you’re at, but you also have to understand that as a professional football player you are judged by the number of trophies you have in your cabinet.
When you’re at a top team and you can deliver that, you don’t have to consider other teams, but when the likes of Madrid and Barcelona come they guarantee you play at that level, so it’s almost impossible not to consider it, especially when you are going through a difficult time with the team you’re at now.
Hazard has hinted at leaving Stamford Bridge this summer, with Real Madrid chasing his signature.
Goalkeeper Courtois has also always been open about wanting to return to Spain in the future.
Willian on the other hand had been a target for Barcelona, but Chelsea may have now been aided by the La Liga side’s signing of Bordeaux winger Malcolm.
