Chelsea players will want to leave if UEFA Champions League hunt fails, says Joe Cole after Manchester United loss
Published 19/04/2026 at 09:10 GMT+1
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Joe Cole believes that Chelsea players will want to leave the club this summer if they fail to reach next season's UEFA Champions League after yet another defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea players will want to leave without Champions League - Cole
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Blues slumped to their sixth loss in seven games across all competitions as they fell to Manchester United 1-0 courtesy of a Matheus Cunha strike shortly before half-time.
That could see the gap between them and fifth-place Liverpool become as high as seven points should The Reds win the Merseyside derby, leaving a UEFA Champions League spot hanging in the balance.
There were once again boos that rang around Stamford Bridge as Chelsea lost their fourth consecutive Premier League match without scoring a goal, last netting in the league on March 4.
The result followed a joint protest between supporters of Chelsea and sister club Strasbourg, and the fan discontentment is unlikely to subside anytime soon.
But Cole went a step further and suggested if Chelsea fail to find their form, players will be looking to move on.
Cole told TNT Sports: ”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.
”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.
”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?'
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”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.”
Enzo Fernandez returned to the Chelsea side after his internal two-game ban for adding fuel to the fire surrounding a potential move to Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, there were further statements during the international break from Marc Cucurella airing frustrations over the club’s transfer policy.
Malo Gusto also revealed how hard the players had found the transition between Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior after the Italian was sacked.
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Cole claims Palmer 'needs to be on the biggest stage in world football' amid exit talk
Video credit: TNT Sports
Chelsea are now level on points with Brentford and Bournemouth as the pair's end-of-season European charge looks like it could bear fruit.
The Blues could also slip down as low as eighth if Everton and Sunderland win on Sunday, before a match with Brighton & Hove Albion, who are just one point behind, on Tuesday.
Crystal Palace have two games in hand and could match Chelsea’s total with wins in both, while Fulham in 12th are within striking distance, three points back.
With five games remaining, Chelsea will need to turn their form around to have any chance of clinging onto a European slot, let alone a Champions League place.
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