Tuchel drops cryptic clue about futures of Blues fringe players

Chelsea fans will feel understandably frustrated with the club’s transfer window so far this summer, with them yet to make a marquee signing with just three weeks of the window remaining. 

The Blues have been heavily linked with a number of Europe’s top talent, including Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane and Erling Braut Haaland.

The latter of which is still rumoured to be the subject of talks between Chelsea and his current employers Borussia Dortmund.

Despite Chelsea’s lack of activity in the market, manager Thomas Tuchel has been speaking about the window, and made a cryptic admission.

“I have to analyse it – and we need these games to analyse it and to judge our players and make decisions about what are the best next steps for them,” Tuchel told Chelsea TV in the build up to friendly fixtures against London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Ugbo and Broja both scored in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.

“There is now a training group of 28 or 29, which is a huge group and there are players coming back.

“So in the near future, yes we have to make some decisions – and it’s good to learn during matches because we need to judge them on a fair basis and some impressions from games and this is better than training.”

Tuchel’s side ran out 2-1 victors over Bournemouth in their first pre-season game of the season, with young strikers Armando Broja and Ike Ugbo on the scoresheet for the Premier League side.

A number of fringe players are expected to depart Stamford Bridge this summer, with the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta, Ross Barkley and Baba Rahman among those who will be allowed to leave.

A number of players will also leave on loan, with youngsters such as Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher and Ethan Ampadu all likely to be sent on loan to gain invaluable first team experience.