Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Tuchel makes odd Ballon d’Or admission; offers Chelsea slant on Newcastle takeover

Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea manager, 2021

Thomas Tuchel gave a diplomatic response when asked which of Chelsea’s five nominees should scoop the Ballon d’Or, and offered his view on the Newcastle takeover.

The Premier League returns this weekend and will resume with Chelsea sitting atop the league ladder. The Blues face a difficult clash against newly-promoted Brentford who have taken top flight life in their stride.

Indeed, the Bees recently held Liverpool to a 3-3 draw before defeating West Ham 2-1 last time out. Tuchel may need his stars to be on top form in the contest, but gave mixed news when speaking about his squad’s availability following the international break.

In his pre-match press conference (via Football London), Tuchel said: “Thiago will be back in the afternoon tomorrow, hopefully safe from this match in Brazil. We had our talk and tactical training, he missed all that.

“He played 90 minutes and had 12 hours of travelling so that gives you the answer.

“Toni Rudiger is injured, came back injured from the national team. Christian Pulisic is still injured. We also have doubts with Hakim Ziyech who has missed the last couple of sessions with a headache.

“Romelu [Lukaku] is fine and will be involved tomorrow.”

Attention then turned to which of Chelsea’s nominated quintet could win the Ballon d’Or. Cesar Azpilicueta, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mason Mount and Lukaku were all named on the 30-man shortlist.

Barcelona shortlist three Chelsea defenders

Barcelona shortlist three Chelsea defenders

Barcelona have reportedly shortlist Chelsea defenders Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen all as transfer targets, with more news on Ousmane Dembele and Edinson Cavani.

But when asked who is his choice to win the award, Tuchel said: “Do you believe me if I say I don’t know the players on the list? This is a team effort and what we did last season was a team effort.

“We were more than single players, we were a team, a group of friends, a strong club. That gave us the possibility to reach a final and win it.”


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Tuchel view on Newcastle takeover

The German boss then gave Chelsea’s perspective on the recent Newcastle takeover. Funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, the Magpies are now the world’s richest club.

“I think it’s normal people have concerns,” added Tuchel. “We trust the Premier League, they have accepted and they are the authorities.

“They have allowed it and Newcastle have new owners. The new owners seem to be promising for a famous club in England and it seems we have a new competitor for titles and places in the top ranking.

“We play in the toughest league and it always seems to get tougher.”

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