Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has admitted it will be very difficult to lure Fernando Torres to Eastlands this summer.
The Liverpool frontman has been linked with a big-money move to City but their failure to qualify for the UEFA Champions League could scupper any possible deal.
Tottenham pipped the Blues into the Premier League's top four this season and will now be rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite next term, unless they lose in the qualifying round of the competition.
City will be playing in the Europa League instead, as will Liverpool, and Mancini believes it will harm their chances of signing top players.
"Can we attract the top, top players, like Torres? I don't know, but I don't think so," he said in The Sun.
"If we finished in the top four, it would be better and easier to attract them.
"In this situation it is different. There are probably some players who want to play in the Champions League and not in the Europa League.
"But there are a lot of players in Europe who will want to play for Manchester City next year.
"We won't be playing in the Champions League but we must try to win the other competitions and finish in the top four in the Premier League."
City ended the campaign with a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday, with Shaun Wright-Phillips equalising a Luis Boa Morte opener.
On his first campaign with City, Mancini remarked: "Things were very difficult when I arrived.
"It is never easy to join a club in the middle of a season. But we have improved.
"We are in the right position - in the top five. We tried to qualify for the Champions League and missed out. But finishing fifth is better than finishing sixth."
The Liverpool frontman has been linked with a big-money move to City but their failure to qualify for the UEFA Champions League could scupper any possible deal.
Tottenham pipped the Blues into the Premier League's top four this season and will now be rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite next term, unless they lose in the qualifying round of the competition.
City will be playing in the Europa League instead, as will Liverpool, and Mancini believes it will harm their chances of signing top players.
"Can we attract the top, top players, like Torres? I don't know, but I don't think so," he said in The Sun.
"If we finished in the top four, it would be better and easier to attract them.
"In this situation it is different. There are probably some players who want to play in the Champions League and not in the Europa League.
"But there are a lot of players in Europe who will want to play for Manchester City next year.
"We won't be playing in the Champions League but we must try to win the other competitions and finish in the top four in the Premier League."
City ended the campaign with a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday, with Shaun Wright-Phillips equalising a Luis Boa Morte opener.
On his first campaign with City, Mancini remarked: "Things were very difficult when I arrived.
"It is never easy to join a club in the middle of a season. But we have improved.
"We are in the right position - in the top five. We tried to qualify for the Champions League and missed out. But finishing fifth is better than finishing sixth."
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