Liam Rosenior has admitted it is Champions League qualification or bust for Chelsea this season and warned his players they are “running out of time” to grasp their opportunity.
Chelsea lie one place outside the expected qualification spots in sixth place, six points behind Wednesday night’s opponents Aston Villa.
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The view around Stamford Bridge is that Chelsea may need as many as seven wins from their final 10 Premier League games to assure themselves Champions League qualification.
A trip to faltering Villa is seen as a chance to make a big move in the Champions League race and, asked what would constitute a successful season for Chelsea, head coach Rosenior said: “A successful season for this club has to be to qualify for the Champions League. It has to be. That’s the level of this club.
“Where we are, we still have a very, very good chance of achieving that. Also to win a trophy would be amazing and it’s something that’s achievable. It’s funny today, it’s the first time we trained with the white balls. That’s normally a sign we’re into that [run-in] period. For me, when those white balls come out, we can’t make those mistakes that we’re making. Because you’re running out of time and that’s the message myself and my staff have given the players this morning.”
Rosenior’s clarity on Chelsea’s main aim was in contrast to former head coach Enzo Maresca’s flip-flopping on the subject last season.
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Here, Telegraph Sport examines what Champions League football means to the club.
Finances
It is estimated that Chelsea have already made around £80m for reaching the last 16 of this season’s Champions League, where they face Paris St-Germain, while London rivals Tottenham Hotspur banked in the region of £35m for winning last season’s Europa League.
That is already a huge gap and Chelsea will have factored a financial difference in the competitions of at least £60m, including ticket sales and corporate hospitality.
Within hours of this season’s last-16 draw against PSG, Chelsea had released details of their hospitality packages for the home tie with “home dugout club” tickets costing £7,500 each, “away dugout club” £4,500 and “platinum” tickets priced at £1,800. One suspects they would have to be a fair bit lower for Midtjylland in the Europa League.
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Chelsea have been playing catch up with their legacy big six rivals in terms of revenue, with the latest Deloitte Money League for the 2024-25 season placing them behind Spurs, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
Transfers
Villa star Morgan Rogers is a player who is constantly linked with Chelsea and his £100m-plus price tag will make it difficult for any club to sign him, regardless of Champions League qualification.
But failure to qualify for the Champions League would make a move for Rogers, or anybody of his quality, almost impossible and not just financially.
Chelsea already have experience of how difficult it can be to compete for the top players and increase the quality of the squad without the carrot of Champions League football.
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Sure, they can outbid the opposition, as they did for João Pedro to sign him ahead of Newcastle United last summer, but without Champions League football the Brazilian could have opted for St James’ Park instead of Stamford Bridge.
The current squad
Chelsea are adamant that the club will not be forced into the sale of any star players, whether or not they qualify for the Champions League.
Doomsday predictions of having to sell Cole Palmer to Manchester United or Moisés Caicedo to Real Madrid have been completely dismissed by insiders.
Players would miss out on their healthy Champions League bonuses for next season, with Chelsea’s wage structure set up to reward success and playing time.
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But anybody who might feel aggrieved at their wages essentially dropping would have to look in the mirror or at the seven players who have been sent off in the league this season.
Chelsea are confident they will not have to sell one of their ‘untouchables’ such as Cole Palmer – Bradley Collyer/PA
Prestige
This is the big one for Chelsea, who – as Rosenior said himself – consider themselves to be a Champions League club.
Having won the competition twice and with the financial advantage they have over Villa and the rest of their rivals outside the legacy six, Chelsea should be competing in the Champions League every season.
Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital did not buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for Thursday night trips to Eastern Europe. They expected to be dining at the top table and rubbing shoulders with the likes of PSG, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
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Make no mistake, missing out on Champions League qualification – while wearing the “world champions” crests on their shirts – would be embarrassing.
Chelsea fans remind Arsenal supporters that they are the only London club to win the men’s Champions League – Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images
Sponsorships
Chelsea last month announced a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with AI provider IFS, which sources claim is worth in excess of £20m.
IFS have signed a partnership with Chelsea until 2028, but the brand’s name will only appear on the club’s shirts for the remainder of the season.
That means Chelsea are already in the market for front-of-shirt and sleeve sponsors for next season, as their sleeve deal with FPT also only runs until the end of the current campaign.
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This summer’s sponsorship market is expected to be crowded with clubs no longer allowed to have betting brands on the front of their shirts from next season, so qualifying for the Champions League would clearly give Chelsea an advantage.
The head coach
Chelsea were eighth in the Premier League table when Rosenior formally took charge of the team after the defeat to Fulham, 12 points behind Villa.
But while the gap to Villa has been halved, the gap between Chelsea and the Champions League places has actually increased, as they were two points off fifth after the Fulham defeat and were three points behind Liverpool after the weekend’s games.
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Qualifying for the Champions League would be seen as a feather in the cap for Rosenior, but failure to do so would be unlikely to alter the esteem with which he is currently held by the owners and sporting directors.
Rosenior believes Chelsea should have five more points from his seven league games in charge, but 14 points still represents an average of two points per game. That is a significant improvement on the 1.47 Chelsea had been averaging under former head coach Maresca this season.