Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admits he wanted to seal the transfer of Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes while he was at Paris Saint-Germain.
The Portugal international impressed at Sporting Lisbon before earning a big move to Man Utd just over a year ago, and he’s continued to shine since his move to the Premier League.
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Clearly one of the best midfielders in Europe, Fernandes could have been a terrific signing for Tuchel at PSG, but instead the German tactician will be facing him as an opponent in today’s big game.
We tried to make it happen,” Tuchel is quoted by BBC Sport.
“It was when we just arrived. My first sporting director in Paris knew [Fernandes] very well. We watched more and more games about him. We fought hard to have a connection to him and to bring him to our team.
“We tried and he went another way. It is bad for us that we have to play against him [on Sunday].”
Chelsea host United at Stamford Bridge later today, and Fernandes will be looking to make a big impact once again after a superb season.
The Red Devils have arguably been a little over-reliant on Fernandes at times, so they’ll surely be looking to him to provide a match-winning moment of magic later today.
If he does, Tuchel will no doubt be left wondering what could have been.
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