Thomas Tuchel reveals striker plans for Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel has stepped up pre-season training, as Chelsea continue offseason work in the hot Los Angeles weather.
The German is continues to tinker with a squad that will hopefully challenge for the Premier League title – a prestigious piece of silverware that has evaded Chelsea for half a decade now.
With that said, he’s also operating closely with Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, as they continue to map out a transfer plan to supplement their existing roster.
While it’s no secret that the Blues are in the market for defenders after two key departures in Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Tuchel had his say on his plans to acquire a striker following the disaster that was the Romelu Lukaku era with the club.
“I think, right now, there is not the first priority to get another big striker in. I think we have enough intensity, goalscoring ability, and mobility to compensate. We go from there. We need to focus on different areas first and maybe see later,” informed Tuchel, entrusting his strikers.
Of course, Chelsea have an out-of-sort Timo Werner in their ranks, alongside the fluid Kai Havertz. Armando Broja’s future meanwhile, remains in the balance.
Tuchel told Adam Newson of Football London, “At the moment, we have Timo [Werner] as a nine, we have Kai [Havertz] as a nine, we have Michy Batshuayi as a number nine, we have Armando Broja as a nine, Raheem Sterling as a nine, maybe, and let’s see how things work out.”
At this point of the offseason, there are few big name players who haven’t been linked to the West London outfit at some point or another.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich have been unable to reach a full agreement with Barcelona regarding Robert Lewandowski owing to their finances, but Chelsea could theoretically flex their muscles if they wish to pry him away from Germany.
As open and honest as he always is, Tuchel added that Chelsea’s priority is not to sign a striker even though Lukaku is out on loan. The Champions League-winning coach gushed “I don’t think we have a chance but if there is, he [Lewandowski] is one of the best number nines. But it does not make sense to comment on other clubs’ players and I will not start doing it. There are top number nines out there at the moment, but we are happy with what we have. The priority is not the nine position; we got our top priority [Sterling] signed and it makes me very, very happy as from there we are very flexible.”
Tuchel will shepherd his Chelsea squad into their first preseason game against Club America on July 17, at 03:00 (BST).
-Akarshak Roy
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0