Tuchel deploys charm offensive with offer lodged; admits surprise at Chelsea struggler

Thomas Tuchel stated Cesar Azpilicueta “embodies everything Chelsea stand for” amid Barcelona’s latest offer, and admitted his surprise at Romelu Lukaku’s struggles so far.

Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta continues to be linked with a free agent exit to Barcelona. The Spaniard, 32, is out of contract in the summer, and transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed Xavi’s side have lodged an enticing offer.

Azpilicueta recently captained his side to Club World Cup glory in Abu Dhabi. That ensured the veteran has lifted every major trophy available to him in club football at Chelsea.

He can now list the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League, Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup on his CV. The Community Shield remains conspicuously absent, though whether that is regarded as a competitive fixture and major honour is another matter entirely.

Now, speaking in his Friday press conference (via Football London), Tuchel hailed Azpilicueta with a series of compliments.

“He has been super important since day one,” said Tuchel. “We had a good connection from the first day which you always wish for as a coach.

“He is a leader by example, which is always super, super nice to have. He’s collected so many trophies, had such a great career at the club, he is outstanding. He embodies everything Chelsea stand for.”

Attacking weapon could return for cup final

Chelsea return to Premier League action this weekend when facing Crystal Palace on Saturday. They host Lille in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday before battling Liverpool in the EFL Cup final next Sunday.

Providing an injury update on his squad, Tuchel stated influential attacker Mason Mount could recover from an ankle ligament injury to feature at Wembley.

“We will push for the League Cup final,” said Tuchel. “We will push. He has injured ligaments.”

Chelsea open Mason Mount contract talks

Chelsea will open contact talks with Mason Mount according to Fabrizio Romano

Reece James also has an outside chance of lining up against Liverpool. The wing-back is still recovering from a hamstring injury and Tuchel stated the current plan is for James to “re-join the group next week”. That comes after the 22-year-old had already suffered a setback in his recovery.

“It’s too long for all of us, we miss him a lot,” added Tuchel. “I had the feeling from the start we had to deal with a big injury and unfortunately, my feeling was right.

“We had a setback when he caught the flu when he was close to re-joining team training. Like always, you have the risk with a physical player like Reece is with a muscle injury there is a delay.

“We are waiting for him. The plan is he re-joins the group next week.”

Tuchel surprise by slow Lukaku start

Tuchel was then asked if he’s disappointed at the goals return of £97.5m striker Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgian has bagged 10 goals in 27 matches for the Blues. However, that goals ratio is a far cry from the ones he produced at Inter Milan and with Belgium.

Tuchel admitted he expected Lukaku to hit the ground running. Though refused to label his centre-forward as a disappointment.

“We need a bit of more patience than we perhaps all wanted to have,” added the Blues boss.

“We demand a lot of our strikers in terms of intensity, so there are reasons why things are maybe like this. There are teams who rely on one goalscorer, that is no secret, but there are teams who rely on more shoulders.

“So both ways work and we want to bring Romelu to better situations. It’s an ongoing process. We still have trusted because he has proved at previous clubs he is the guy who gets the last touch on attacks.

“Disappointed is not the right word but, of course, we thought for him, and for him as well, he wanted to produce the numbers right from the start. But we are all humans and we keep on going.”

READ MORE: Barcelona go big with surprising offer to lure Chelsea favourite away from Tuchel