Thomas Tuchel is not only building a squad this summer to attempt to challenge at the top again, I believe he is building a squad, or more specifically, a midfield, for the future.
We know Chelsea’s issues, we have an ageing midfield pair of Jorginho and N’Golo Kante, who are both now into the final year of their contracts and showing no signs of extending.
We have other players such as Conor Gallagher who if he doesn’t break in for regular football this season, will probably push to leave. And then other midfielders such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is more now used as a utility back-up, and Mason Mount, who is played as an attacker anyway.
So when you look at it, you only have Mateo Kovacic as the only midfielder whose future seems solid at Chelsea.
This is why we are seeing reports of Chelsea pushing so hard to sign Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona, because Tuchel and the club, are building for the future of their midfield.
Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images
I believe we will also see a reignition of Thomas Tuchel’s main midfield target Declan Rice come again next summer, if not before, and it has a feel that Tuchel is looking at him and De Jong to replace Jorginho and Kante.
If you heard Matt Law of The Telegraph talking on the London is Blue Podcast today, you’d have heard him hint at this.
Law says that Chelsea “have checked on certain midfielders this Summer but they aren’t available so those players may get put on the backburner until next Summer.” He says we have tried things that have not been reported in the press. Interesting indeed.
This points towards Chelsea working on the now, for the future. I am sure that Tuchel is having nightmares over what happened this summer losing two key defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen as free agents, and he doesn’t want to see the same thing happen next summer with two key midfielders.
