“Out of options”- Tuchel reveals Chelsea stance on January transfers amidst injury crisis

Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea are in the transfer market for a right wingback to compensate for Reece James

Thomas Tuchel has conveyed that Chelsea are in the transfer market to sign a right wingback to compensate for Reece James, who has been sidelined due to an injury. The latter has suffered a hamstring tear but is expected to return in a while, unlike Ben Chilwell who is out for the season.

The 22-year-old James was enjoying a sensational season before the injury. He had netted five goals and six assists by that point in just 23 appearances across all competitions for the Blues.

Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Chelsea official website), Tuchel has expressed the need for them to find a suitable replacement as Cesar Azpilcueta is the only backup option currently. He added how even if James’ is set to return in a few weeks, Chelsea need enough to last them until then.

“If you are out for some weeks, and you don’t know how fast the process is for coming back, you can lose a lot of matches. If we play in the back-five, it’s Azpi, if we play a back-four and the need is maybe a bit more defensive full-back with different characteristics to protect the offensive players, it is also Azpi. So we were running out of options. If we had a full squad I would love to say we do nothing [in the transfer market] because we’re only happy, but we have this issue and that’s why we look into what’s possible.”

Over to you Granovskaia

We must find a suitable replacement in the coming days before the January transfer window closes. Azpilicueta cannot play every single game and an injury or a suspension to him could derail our chances of success this season. As such, we need a backup option, and Marina Granovskaia has to provide the Tuchel with just that.

James is expected to be out of contention for at least two months, which puts into the picture how precarious the situation is. We have a lot of high profile matches in the period he is out for, meaning a suitable replacement needs to be found as soon as possible.

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We could try playing others like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic or Trevoh Chalobah in that position, but that would not be ideal for the team or the players themselves. We have a lot of time left this month, and we must utilise that to the fullest to identify an addition to the defence.

Time will tell us whether we would bring in someone this month, and if we do, who would that be as we try to make up for the England international’s absence. Let’s hope that the skipper does well in the meantime to cover until a reliable option gets signed.