“Marina was in charge”- Tuchel opens up on Chelsea’s failed summer pursuit of La Liga defender

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel opens up on failed Jules Kounde pursuit

According to Metro, Thomas Tuchel admitted that Chelsea did try to sign Jules Kounde but failed to get the deal done. He added that the plan was to bring him in and that it went late into the transfer window. However, he was happy to work with the players he had, given the move eventually collapsed.

While it was a rather quiet transfer window for Chelsea as compared to the previous one, but it was a positive summer nonetheless. They fulfilled the goal of trimming down the squad with a flurry of sales and loan deals. As for arrivals, Chelsea got Romelu Lukaku to boost their options up front while Saul Niguez was added to bolster the midfield.

However, Chelsea were also after Jules Kounde in a bid to refresh their defence. Sevilla held firm on their £68m valuation, meaning Chelsea had to back out of the deal. Tuchel went on to reveal some details regarding the move.

‘Marina was in charge and she is the best person who can be in charge. We were in contact and Petr Cech (technical and performance advisor) was in contact. Us three we knew about all the situations. We knew things can happen, things can happen late, and we were also very aware of the situation that, maybe, nothing happens at all.’

Tuchel was still okay with the whole thing as he knew how much of an effort Chelsea made. However, it was not to be and he was content to use the players he did have.

‘I assured everybody that I’m also happy if we cannot bring a player in. We will find the solution within the squad. We will push players within the squad. But it was clear we tried for Kounde and Saul and it was very, very late, but it was a very, very smooth transfer window because I had full concentration on training and on my team.’

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Whether or not Chelsea revisit their interest in Kounde in January or next season is unclear at this point. Given their efforts and Tuchel’s comments, one could say that another attempt might be on the cards sooner rather than later.

For now, the focus should be on being at the strongest place possible in the Premier League table once the January window opens.