Guus Hiddink warns Chelsea his successor may struggle to lure top talent

Lack of Champions League football would call for a novel sales pitch
'If a club can offer ambition then you can still be attractive to players'

Posted Saturday, February 13, 2016 by theguardian.com

Guus Hiddink will continue his search for a first home win in the Premier League against

Guus Hiddink believes the Chelsea hierarchy will have to develop an enticing sales pitch to lure signings this summer when the club is unlikely to be able to offer Champions League football in the wake of this season's toils.

Chelsea languish 17 points behind the top four, who play each other this weekend, with 13 games remaining going into Saturday evening's visit of Newcastle to Stamford Bridge. Hiddink has overseen an unbeaten run that stretches back to José Mourinho's dismissal in December, though he has yet to secure a home win in the Premier League, with a succession of draws having frustrated the team's attempts to break into the top half and, in the manager's eyes, ruled out a top-four finish.

The club has adapted its recruitment policy over recent years, basing its strategy on Uefa's original financial fair play regulations, with major purchases largely funded by outgoing transfers. Yet a failure to qualify for Europe's money?flushed elite competition for the first time under Roman Abramovich's ownership – Chelsea could still win the trophy to participate next term, and confront Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday – would have serious implications for the club's revenue streams.

That may partly explain why Ramires, 28, was sold to Jiangsu Suning for an initial ￡20m last month, in anticipation of an awkward summer ahead when Chelsea's ability to convince elite targets to join, rather than move to Champions League clubs, will be tested. "The club must also offer the ambition, even when you don't play in the Champions League next year,"said Hiddink, who will leave this summer before the appointment of a permanent successor to Mourinho. "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.”

Eden Hazard made clear in an interview with the Guardian last week that the key factor in his move to Stamford Bridge in 2012 had been Chelsea's ability, as European Cup winners, to offer Champions League football despite having finished sixth the previous season.

"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 [to break back into the top four],"said Hiddink. "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.”

That situation has been complicated by the emergence of Tottenham Hotspur as a force this season and, potentially, by Leicester City's eye-catching success. The leaders are 23 points clear of the reigning champions.

Hiddink still aspires to extending his team's involvement in the FA Cup and Champions League but is anxious, too, to raise Chelsea into the top half of the Premier League. Newcastle arrive having lost their past five away games in all competitions and with the hosts hopeful that Diego Costa will be able to feature despite breaking his nose in training this week. The Spain forward was hurt in an accidental clash with Fikayo Tomori, an 18-year-old Canadian defender who had been promoted from the academy setup to make up the numbers at Cobham. Costa travelled to Milan to have a custom-made mask developed and fitted, returning to Chelsea's Surrey base on Friday afternoon to undergo his own light session and adjust to the face protection. He will join Gary Cahill, Nemanja Matic and César Azpilicueta in sporting a mask this season.

"We are a team with a lot of masks; a Zorro team,"said Hiddink. "It was just a small incident, just a duel. But it's very fragile when you hit your nose on the back of the head of a firm young man. I think he will be available. We'll see how he reacts but I hope – I'm not sure – he will be available.”

Another young defender Jake Clarke-Salter has joined Chelsea's senior squad for the remainder of the season as cover for the long-term injury absentee Kurt Zouma.

"Reaching finals of both cup competitions would be a huge success and not easy to achieve,"added Hiddink. "A failure in this role would have been suffering several defeats since December, which hasn't happened. So I hope we can be a bit on the edge now to go into spring, where we can achieve what this club must normally achieve.

"When I came in I asked everyone – and they were almost all involved in winning the championship last year – what their contribution had been last time. I tried to make them think about their contribution, to the team or individually in helping the team win the title.

"I can be more profound and deep with a player one-on-one: ‘What did you do last year that you've not done this time round?' They have responded.