Chelsea’s new manager Thomas Tuchel is set to target young players from the Bundesliga when it comes to transfers for next season, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The German tactician has just replaced Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge, and there’s not much time for him to get any new signings in before the end of the January transfer window.
Tuchel will surely have new players in mind, however, though Romano told us it’s by no means certain that Chelsea will continue to pursue West Ham’s Declan Rice now that Lampard has left.
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Instead, Romano expects Tuchel to go after Bundesliga-based players, with RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano singled out as a likely option for the Blues.
“For sure, I expect something from the Bundesliga,” Romano told CaughtOffside in an exclusive interview. “The aim for Chelsea is to decide between March and April the targets for the summer. That’s what they did last summer before signing a lot of players. For the names I think we have to wait because they haven’t decided yet.
“They want to go on with young players. They will look for a centre-back for sure, and keep an eye on the situation of Dayot Upamecano because Chelsea are included in the clubs interested in this guy. Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and also Liverpool are looking at him.
“I don’t expect anything big in the January transfer window because the board knows that what they did last summer – signing ten new players – was a problem for Frank Lampard.
“It’s one thing to have top players, it’s another to have a team. You don’t have time in this crazy season to train together, to work together, you’re playing matches every three days, no pre-season matches. It’s difficult and that’s why Chelsea are quiet and they will wait until the summer.”
Upamecano is a fine player who could do a job for Chelsea in a problem area, with Thiago Silva surely too old to carry on for much longer at this level, while others such as Andreas Christensen have not been convincing.
Liverpool could also do with signing Upamecano after their problems at the back this season, with Virgil van Dijk’s lengthy absence a huge blow while Joel Matip and Joe Gomez have also struggled to stay fit.
Upamecano would surely find a move to Anfield more tempting than Chelsea right now, but it will be interesting to see if Tuchel’s presence can sway things.