Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that the club cannot rely on the younger players to deliver success over the next few seasons.

Mourinho believes that the older players in his squad have a crucial role to play in the future and insists that they will be important figures when Chelsea return to Champions League action against Galatasaray on Wednesday.

"You could say this project is a project for the future. We only want to do this project with young players that have a 10-year future," the Portuguese coach told reporters. "No. We decided clearly from the beginning that the best way to develop the other guys is to have a nucleus of players like they are.

"They are important in the evolution of the team too.

"These older players in Chelsea they have a big history in the Champions League. They've experienced everything in the Champions League."

The first leg of the last-16 tie takes place in the Turk Telekom Arena on Wednesday.