Chelsea stars set to have their wages cut by 30% next season

It's not been a good season at all for Chelsea, and it's not getting better anytime soon, with the players set for some big pay cuts for next season.

Ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League game there already wasn't much to play for before the end of the campaign for Frank Lampard's team.

The return of the club's all time top goalscorer hasn't helped at all and their loss to Real Madrid, going down 2-0 thanks to some goals 'made in South Africa,' was their fourth loss in-a-row.

Club legend Didier Drogba has claimed that he doesn't recognise his team any more, a damning indictment coming from someone who played with Lampard and should have a good relationship with the interim boss.

The elimination from Europe means that the final seven games of the Premier League season are pretty much only there for the west London club to not suffer more embarrassment.

They currently sit in 11th place in the league table, but Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and even in form Bournemouth will be looking up at the possibility of overtaking the Stamford Bridge side.

Thiago Silva hit the nail on the head with how badly everything has been going wrong for the side in recent months, but it's about to get worse for the players.

As per the Daily Mail, Todd Boehly has linked player contracts to failure, where Roman Abramovich only linked bonuses to trophies won, meaning failure to play in the Champions League will mean wage cuts.

That will see any new signings, and players who agreed new deals in the past year, missing out on at least 30% of their current wages from next season.

Raheem Sterling will be one of those players on the new incentive driven deals. Image: Alamy

The contract by Boehly, mainly incentive driven, were supposed to motivate the players, although they also protect the club in the absence of Champions League money.

Clearly the motivating factor has not worked, as they have struggled throughout the season, with Graham Potter sacked for not getting the most out of the players.

He was not helped by the signing of 12 new players, many of whom came in during the January transfer window, with little plan evident.

Seven existing squad members have also signed new contracts since Boehly took over last year, meaning 19 players in all will be hit by the wage reduction.

There is expected to be departures from the team in the summer, with Mason Mount heavily linked with leaving, however Newcastle United have been quoted £80 million for the midfielder.