Thomas Tuchel says the decision to sign Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window was one taken by both him and those within the Chelsea hierarchy. The 27-year-old completed his temporary switch to Stamford Bridge in the final minutes of transfer deadline day but has failed to secure regular game time thus far. Saul has made just six appearances – of which only three have been starts – under Tuchel and there have been claims in Spain the Chelsea head coach did not request the arrival of the Spain international and that the de
Thomas Tuchel said: “A club signing? No, we don’t do this. Until now, we haven’t done club signings and coach’s signings. We do signings because we decide together because we believe it’s a good pick and a good addition to the squad, and this was exactly the case.”
Saul has made just two appearances for Chelsea in the Premier League; his debut at home to Aston Villa in which he was brought off at half-time and the final two minutes of the Blues’ convincing 3-0 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park. However, with N’Golo Kante (knee) and Mateo Kovacic (hamstring) ruled out of tomorrow’s game against Watford at Vicarage Road and Jorginho also a doubt due to fatigue, Saul is finally in contention to start.
Thomas Tuchel explained: “I think every single player needs his time to adapt and Saul needed his time. He competes with a lot of high-quality players in midfield. We needed to understand him a bit better, not in terms of language, but in terms what is his real strength, the detail of the player, what can he add to the squad, where is his maybe unique quality and it was not easy. I guess it’s the first time he plays for another club than Atletico – he comes from the academy there – and we have to accept the style of the game is so different from Spain to here. It teaches us a lesson that everybody needs individual time to adapt and since many days he is stronger, I feel him a bit more relaxed and at the same time that gives him a little bit more freedom to impose his quality. He’s very strong in finishing, in arriving in the box. In the moment, where we have injured players in the midfield, even Jorgi doubtful for tomorrow, it’s the moment for him to be ready. I have the feeling since many days that he is ready and can show what he wants to show.”
In addition to the absences of Kante and Kovacic, Chelsea will also be without Ben Chilwell against Watford. Reece James and Timo Werner are also doubts alongside Jorginho. The fitness concerns are mounting for Tuchel. However, he will be able to call upon Romelu Lukaku, who returned from an ankle injury on Sunday against Manchester United and has trained well over the past two days.
Thomas Tuchel said: “This would not be the first time that forced rest gives you a boost in the end because your body takes what it needs. I still think he was overplayed in the summer and he takes a lot of responsibility for the success of his team in Italy (Inter Milan) and at the Euros with Belgium. It is easy to work with him when he is injured because he is pushing every single day, pushing everybody to be out on the pitch again. He tries to push the coaches to convince us that he is ready to start. If it was up to him he would have started against Leicester when he was not even in the group. He is a big guy and a big guy with an ankle injury. My opinion is that it needs a bit of time because he puts a lot of weight on his ankle and is turning and for acceleration and deceleration this is a crucial part of these movements. We have given him some minutes and that helps him psychologically. He is happy, he smiles every day. He is determined and trains at a very high level. Once we are happy that he is fully free and ready to go and contribute, which is a lot. We still believe he can make a difference for us. At the same time, we will be patient.”
