Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, is one of the best managers in the world. Copyright: Andy Rowland PMI-4226-0004
According to the Mirror (h/t ESPN), Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has made an appeal to the Blues’ board, requesting funds as he targets a summer revamp in the club’s rearguard.
The German boss came in last season and immediately went about fixing a leaky Chelsea defence, which was a big worry for the club as they slumped to new lows in the league under Frank Lampard. Tuchel changed the team’s shape to a three-man defence, which provided stability and balance to a side that let in cheap goals and often struggled to handle elite opposition attackers.
It clearly did the trick, as the former Borussia Dortmund man led the Blues to a Champions League win at the end of the season in his debut campaign with the English side. The Stamford Bridge outfit kept yet another clean sheet in the UCL final, as Tuchel’s tactics at the back paid off against an in-form Manchester City side that lifted the league title that season.
However, the same Chelsea defence that brought him success is now set to give him a headache, as senior defenders Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Andreas Christensen are all in the final year of their contracts and look set to leave the club for free at the end of the season- granted they do not renew their deals.
The Blues are yet to have made any breakthroughs in contract negotiations with the defensive trio. With the weeks passing by quickly, Chelsea now face a very real possibility of losing three of their first-choice defenders in the same transfer window, including club captain Azpilicueta.
With very little progress made by the club in convincing the stars to stay beyond the summer, it has seen Barcelona hover around for the ex-Marseille defender and Christensen as recently as last month.
The Blues will especially hope that Rudiger signs a new deal before the end of the campaign, given that the German has arguably been our best defender this season. The former AS Roma star has not only been solid at the back but has chipped in with crucial goals as well. Not to mention, his availability for selection throughout this season has certainly eased Tuchel’s selection headaches at the back.
Fans will be sweating over the future of Azpilicueta as well, who has been amongst the longest-serving players of the current Chelsea squad. The loss of a leader in the Spaniard may not be easy to replace, and the club would be wise to start looking for replacements already, given the size of the boots that would need to be filled.
As things stand, Tuchel faces the possibility of losing three of his first picks in defence. Such a loss would not be easy to overcome, and the German boss will hope that his side winning more silverware until the summer can convince his players to stay for a few more years.
With the FIFA Club World Cup and Carabao Cup offering chances for early trophies to be won this month, Tuchel will no doubt rely to some extent on his preferred defensive trio to see him through these games. In the event that these players still decide on leaving the club for greener pastures in the summer, the manager will hope that the board come through with the funds he has requested from them for a rebuild ahead of next season.
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