COMMENT: This surely wasn’t in the script. Count ’em – one, two, three, four… four Champions League winners. Four senior defenders. All of whom are about to enter the final six months of their contracts. For Thomas Tuchel, this wasn’t in the script…
Did Chelsea‘s manager speak too soon? Last week, Tuchel gave an interview to Sportweek, Gazzetta dello Sport’s weekly magazine. In a wide-ranging feature, Tuchel spoke of the differences working for Chelsea compared to his previous club, Paris Saint Germain. The German eager to highlight the support team he now enjoys at Chelsea, where he can now simply focus on coaching without finding himself bogged down with the inertia of individual player issues.
“PSG and Chelsea? These are two teams that are at the opposite end in terms of style and organisation,” insisted Tuchel, infamously sacked on Christmas Eve by PSG‘s unapologetic sporting director Leonardo.
“In Paris, I worked more as a minister of sport than as a coach, also managing the family and friends of the stars. At Chelsea, on the other hand, I can work more calmly.”
But is that calm about to be disrupted? No matter how they may reason it publicly, Chelsea‘s powerbrokers know you can’t lose four Champions League winners and expect it not to have a negative effect. That the four players in question all do their best work across Chelsea‘s final defensive line makes the issue even more acute.
Toni Rudiger, we know, is now having his brother Sahr Senesie test the market for his true value. Currently not even in the top ten earners on Chelsea‘s books, the German now wants paying what he feels he’s worth. And this could mean pricing himself out of extending his stay at Stamford Bridge.
Thiago Silva, meanwhile, has now entered talks with Fluminense about a celebrated return home. At 37, the Brazilian was always a year-to-year proposition for Chelsea. But despite his veteran status, the former AC Milan and PSG captain has proved Frank Lampard right in the former manager’s insistence Chelsea deal him in over a year ago.
Going separate ways? Rudiger and Tuchel together after facing Zenit
Skipper Cesar Azpilicueta is another about to become available to pre-contract offers. And unlike Rudiger, the Spaniard is yet to hear from the club about a new deal. There’s a confidence on Chelsea‘s side that negotiations will run smoothly. But though Azpilicueta’s loyalty can never be questioned, there is the threat of a Bosman-obsessed Barcelona and their need to find replacements for veteran pair Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba. Azpilicueta’s reputation back home has skyrocketed this past year thanks to Spain coach Luis Enrique’s backing. Should we get to January 1 and the Basque remains in play, Barca will table a formal pre-contract offer to Azpilicueta. That he’ll commit is no guarantee, but Chelsea will be playing a dangerous game if they allow their captain’s contract situation to drag on.
The fourth on Chelsea‘s list of centre-halves running down their deals is Andreas Christensen. However, unlike his captain, AC is in advanced negotiations with Chelsea about an upgrade. With his father leading talks, there is a confidence on both sides of the table of finding an agreement.
And that’s something that will be a relief for Tuchel. Even one out of four is better than nothing. After all, we didn’t have to do a ring around to know the manager feels short at centre-half. If it was up to him and Jules Kounde, they’d be today working together on Cobham’s training pitches. The France defender deliberately remaining in Paris in the final days of the market hoping Chelsea and Sevilla would reach an agreement that never came.
And just as that deal was falling through, Malang Sarr found his move to Greuther Furth collapsing on flight from London – just hours before the summer transfer deadline fell. That Tuchel is now utilising Sarr after green lighting his original departure does suggest his options aren’t to his liking.
And those options are only going to become thinner if Tuchel’s higher ups don’t get a move on regarding his four off contract stalwarts. As much as Trevoh Chalobah is being celebrated for his breakthrough, the young stopper hasn’t actually displaced any senior teammate. Instead, injuries and match fitness opened the door for the 22 year-old – and to his credit Chalobah has made the most of this opportunity.
Ever since the market shut, we’ve known Tuchel has felt his squad is one centre-half short. By season’s end, that one required signing could blow out to five. If Tuchel isn’t involved in this. If he isn’t playing his “minister for sport” role. Then maybe it’s time to he intervened.
Losing four Champions League winners – and all senior defenders – surely wasn’t in the script for Tuchel. After what he encountered with PSG, the manager has already made it clear he was expecting better from his higher ups.
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