COMMENT: The Chelsea Football Club will not be competing in the UEFA Champions League in 2016/17.

Unless something altogether astonishing occurs in the final two months of the Premier League season, the reigning English champions will miss their first top flight European campaign since 2003 following Wednesday night's Round of 16 exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.

Chelsea's domestic disaster this term, after dominating their territorial rivals 12 months prior, has been the main contributor to a situation which is likely to have adverse, nay devastating, effects at Stamford Bridge.

Under Guus Hiddink they have been able to get things back on track domestically to the point where they now sit 10 points off a top-four finish which seems an enormous improbability considering they have just nine fixtures remaining.

No Champions League for Roman Abramovich, who has overseen a European campaign every year since he took over as owner, is a near-on catastrophe.

This means the prosperous Russian will have to spend more in the all-important summer transfer market than he usually does.

In turn, that could bring into action FIFA's stringent (cough cough) Financial Fair Play sanctions.

But expected spending aside, how will Abramovich, and whoever he hires as the new Blues boss, attract star quality to The Bridge?

Antonio Conte is the man who is almost certain to be given the arduous task of re-selling Chelsea as a desirable destination.

Over the past decade, that has not been an issue as competing in the Champions League has been a prerequisite, while challenging for the Premier League title has not been an exhausting endeavour - it has been expected.

With just the FA Cup to play for in 2015/16, how do Chelsea now sell themselves to elite professionals looking to achieve sustained success at the very top level?

They cannot harp on about the 2012 European triumph as a reason to lay roots in leafy West London because that fact is now firmly in the past.

There are a plethora of quality players being linked with a shift to SW6, but out of all them, who is prepared to give up playing in the competition that so many around the world yearn for?

Juventus star Paul Pogba surely won't be interested now. Would he?

Why would Antoine Griezmann want to leave Atletico Madrid to merely focus on a domestic league and a pair of cups?

Gareth Bale to leave Real Madrid to play for one of Tottenham's closest rivals. Unlikely.

The suggested moves of Roma pair Miralem Pjanic and Radja Nainggolan would hinge on whether or not the Italian capital club secure their place in the Serie A's top three. With those two as the driving force, that seems plausible.

There may be talk of unrest between Arturo Vidal and Bayern Munich but will leaving the Bundesliga giants, who will annually be a genuine European contender, to simply reunite with Conte be enough?

The signing of PSG's Edinson Cavani resembles a possibility as he has seen his role at Parc des Princes diminish but with Zlatan leaving in the summer, could Laurent Blanc keep the Uruguayan happy by promising the number one striker's role?

And then there is Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci. But as with Pogba, why would he leave the chance to consistently win league titles and play in Champions League finals? The Conte factor?

From a departure point of view, there are serious doubts over Diego Costa and Eden Hazard.

The former is a required player if the Blues want to swiftly return to the heights they have experienced in the past six or seven years which have yielded seven major trophies.

But can they keep him away from a romantic return to the Vicente Calderon where he is as revered by the Atleti faithful as Didier Drogba is by the Pensioners.

The latter, as evidenced by the boos and jeers directed his way on Wednesday, can now be safely offloaded. Especially considering there may be a hefty price tag involved if Real Madrid or PSG show considerable curiosity.

Thibaut Courtois would be none too pleased about missing a season of European action having been involved in three straight top flight campaigns, and would be aching to make amends for Atletico's loss to local rivals Real in the 2014 final. Will he get that chance at Chelsea? Not next year anyway…

A bigger clubs beckons for the 23-year-old.

Willian has indicated he is happy to stay but PSG's interest will surely have him second guessing, especially if the Parisians go all the way this season.

While the sale of Juan Cuadrado seems almost certain to a number of news outlets, perhaps Conte may keep him around after a decent loan stint with his old employers Juventus.

John Obi Mikel will now go off and land some ridiculous Chinese Yuan, just as Ramires did before him, while Oscar's head may also be turned by better cash elsewhere but he has also indicated his willingness to remain a Blue.

Those big European nights that captain John Terry is so fond of will be unattainable for at least 12 months.

Saying a sad goodbye to 'JT' is bordering on a formality - unless of course Conte wants to retain him - but it appears as though the love affair may be over.

So during this time of uncertainty, what will they do?

Bringing on the kids like Bertrand Traore, Kenedy and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, getting games into academy stars such as Tammy Abraham, Kasey Palmer and Jay Dasilva, and reintegrating loan players in the form of Nathan Ake, Izzy Brown, Mario Pasalic, Lewis Baker, Charly Musonda and Dom Solanke will be paramount for the future.

But for the short-term, Abramovich will need to find a way to spend and lure so he can target Europe's top club prize within the next four or five years.

Hiddink admitted after the PSG defeat that Chelsea are now in a period of uncertainty and must find ways to brighten their future for the interim.

"It's my opinion that Chelsea are in a transition period. They have to see how they go on and try and regain the lost terrain where Chelsea used to be, that's true," said the Dutchman.

"It's difficult to get into fourth position. We'll try and do our first job, to get out of the relegation zone, but it was a very big gap to go and reach the top four and the Champions League places.

"Chelsea must consider it's short-term future, how to handle this. But they've known this for a while."

The forecasted loss of around £40million that comes with missing out on the Champions League, and potentially more if sponsors see no top flight Euro action as a money burner, will certainly have negative connotations.

The evasion of inserting incentive-based clauses in player's contracts to protect the club from falling out of European calculations is also sure to be rued.

In saying all of this though, if Chelsea get past Everton in the FA Cup quarter-final on the weekend, and go on to clinch the prestigious Football Association trophy, then we may at the very least see them toiling on Thursday nights in search of another Europa League triumph.

That seemed to appease Abramovich when it happened a few years back (2013) but is that adequate for such an ambitious entrepreneur?

Will clinching the FA Cup in a bid to at least secure the after-thought of a second tier Euro campaign be enough?

The potential of not being seen on the European, and subsequent worldwide stage, could have crippling implications for Chelsea.

Whether this scenario hurts them badly or not, having a Champions League campaign without the Londoners heavily involved will be an odd experience indeed.

Especially as they have been England's best performers on the mainland in recent times and will no longer, for a season at last, get the chance to proudly fly the flag for the Premier League.