Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel may already have opened the door for a Tammy Abraham exit amid talk of a bid from Aston Villa.
The Mirror have claimed Villa are readying a £40million bid for out-of-favour Abraham this summer with the striker featuring sparingly since the arrival of Tuchel at Stamford Bridge in January.
Abraham suffered an ankle injury relatively early in Tuchel’s reign but even after returning, he only featured twice in the Premier League and was left out of the Blues’ squad altogether on three occasions.
That lack of action has seen the 23-year-old linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, and the deal could be a goer if Tuchel’s most recent comments on the striker are anything to go by.
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Towards the end of the season, Tuchel was asked why Abraham was being left out despite the fact he was Chelsea’s joint top scorer this season.
“I don’t think he’s the top scorer since I arrived,” the Chelsea boss replied, as cited by football.london.
“I can only judge what I see. I saw a bright young man in front of me. I saw a guy who is self-confident, who has a lot of talent.
“But it cannot be that in a period of such good results that suddenly the guys who don’t play are the winners.
“This is not logical to me. He was for some weeks not available, so is it now the moment to do crazy stuff and try things?
“If you just look at the data, you will say: ‘OK, he’s the top scorer.’ If you look at the data since we are here, it will maybe tell you a different story.
“Tammy had a bit of a rough time. He was twice substituted for tactical reasons at half-time.
“He could not have the impact he demands from himself and we wish from him.”