By Safiu Kehinde
Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel has played down rumoured talks about the Blues having interest in signing Barcelona forward, Ousmane Dembele during the recently closed winter transfer window.
Tuchel revealed that no contact was made for the want-away Frenchman whose relationship with Barcelona got severed due to disagreement in contract extension.
“We were open for things. I did not have contact with Ousmane [Dembele]. There was no contact in winter between us,” he noted.
The German currently boasts of substantial amount of attackers which include Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, and Romelu Lukaku. An inclusion of Dembele would have indeed be unnecessary in a team with such attacking prowess.
Following the closure of the transfer window, Dembele is to remain at the Camp Nou with the possibility of being sidelined all through the rest of the season. While they tried to force the Frenchman’s exit, Barcelona had already secured the service of the winger’s replacement following the signing of Ferran Torres, Aubmeyang, and the return of Adama Traore into a team which already parade the likes of Memphis Depay, Ansu Fati, and Luuk De Jong.
Meanwhile, aside the denial of Dembele’s link with the club, Chelsea had endured a silent January transfer as they made no prolific signing except the return of Kennedy from Flamengo. The exiled Brazilian defender was recalled as cover for injured Ben Chiwell.
Pleased with the inactive nature of Chelsea’s January transfer window, Thomas Tuchel lauded the return of Kennedy while commending the Brazilian’s activities.
“He lost track a little bit and maybe couldn’t fulfil the demands from the outside I had. But this is life. He gets a second or third chance to be here and it’s not about what happened.
“He was good in pre-season, decided he wanted to go back to Brazil, but now he is here.
“He has a strong left foot, strong in possession, can shoot and cross very precisely. That’s more or less it.
“He is a very nice guy, very talented, and let’s see where he is.
“Now it is his duty to get fit and we have to bring him to match fitness and then he needs some minutes. However that will work out – he needs to deserve it, but he’s now part of the group.
“It’s a huge opportunity and I am very happy to give it to him and help him make the best of it,” Tuchel told the press ahead of his team’s FA Cup tie with Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
