Hamburg technical chief Lee Congerton says Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich helped them enormously last season.

Five fringe players from Chelsea - Michael Mancienne, Slobodan Rajkovic, Jacopo Sala, Gokhan Tore and Jeffrey Bruma - were signed after Hamburg's board were forced to slash their transfer budget.

"Once we knew the financial constraints, our priority from day one changed completely and it was very much 'wir müssen in der Bundesliga bleiben'," Congerton told the Guardian. "We were unable to go for the big players that we had been talking to because the salaries were coming down and we had no money to spend, so we had to go for players that we knew and whom Frank could convince to come here. And, ultimately, the owner at Chelsea was very supportive and prepared to help."