“I can’t come out here and lie” – Joe Cole sends warning to Chelsea after Man United defeat | OneFootball

Joe Cole feels players will want to leave Chelsea this summer if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.

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The Blues slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on Saturday evening, their fourth consecutive league loss without scoring.

Chelsea have now won just one of their last seven games, which was against League One side Port Vale in the FA Cup.

Joe Cole on the importance of Champions League football

The Blues are currently sixth, four points behind Liverpool, who occupy the final Champions League place, and that gap could become seven if they beat Everton on Sunday.

More worrying is the fact Chelsea are level on points with Brentford and Bournemouth, and just a point ahead of Brighton and Everton.

Qualifying for the Champions League once in four years under the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital ownership is becoming a reality.

Cole Palmer has insisted he’s not looking to leave, whilst Reece James and Moises Caicedo have signed new contracts.

However, Cole feels if Chelsea aren’t in the Champions League, players will want to leave at the end of the season.

“The consequences [of not being in the Champions League] will be, you will have a lot of players looking over at their mates when they go to the World Cup,” he told TNT Sports.

”They are playing in the Champions League and winning Champions Leagues, and they’ll be thinking, ‘we want a bit of that, we signed for Chelsea for that.’

”These players didn’t sign for Chelsea thinking, ‘maybe I’ll go there and then I’ll go somewhere else’. Chelsea is a destination club, like Manchester United, like Liverpool.”

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Chelsea in trouble with no Champions League

Cole added players expect to win trophies at Chelsea, and thinks some will be asking their agents for a move this summer.

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“You come here and you expect to win trophies, so if it doesn’t happen, then the facts of the matter are, there will be players in that dressing room that will be telling their agents, ‘can you get me out of here?’

“I can’t come out here and lie, that will happen, regardless of what they say or what statements they do, because that is the nature of the beast with footballers. It is a short career and you want to win trophies.”

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