Cesar Azpilicueta
Thomas Tuchel insists Chelsea will not rush to make signings in the January transfer window despite acknowledging he is “running out of options” in defence and at wing-back.
Thomas Tuchel said: “We talk about only one player who suits [different systems] which is Azpi. If we play in a back five, it is Azpi who replaces Reece James. If we play a back four and we may need a bit more of defensive full-back, a bit of a different characteristic to protect the defensive players, it is also Azpi. Maybe it is Trevoh Chalobah but Trevoh is out with injury. So we are running out of options. If you talk about Christian Pulisic or Callum Hudson-Odoi, for sure they can only play at wing-back, it is only fair to them. It’s not like their preferred position and they cannot show their full potential if they play there, but they can for sure not play full-back. So you lose options, you lose options not only in personnel but in tactics and formation. But I will not comment in more on detail in the market. We check our options and in the end, it needs to make sense. It is not only pure numbers to bring in players. It needs to be a good mix of high quality, high-level attitude and character. Then it needs to be possible. It seems like everybody would love to have it. If we had a full squad I would love to answer this question and say we need nothing. But we have the issue and that’s why we look into it.”
