Chelsea have decided against signing Cristiano Ronaldo after key discussions took place between Thomas Tuchel and Todd Boehly.
The club’s new owner has taken on the role of acting sporting director after the exit of Marina Granovskaia last month.
Boehly has played a key role in Chelsea’s transfer dealings this summer and met with Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, this summer where the idea of bringing the player to Stamford Bridge was raised.
Ronaldo has privately made no secret of his desire to leave Old Trafford less than 12 months after his homecoming, disillusioned at the prospect of lowering himself to playing in the Europa League next campaign.
The former Real Madrid attacker is, however, running out of potential escape routes with Chelsea the latest heavyweight European team to rule themselves out of the running, according to Daily Mail.
Tuchel was asked, after arriving in Los Angeles ahead of Chelsea’s pre-season tour, about the prospect of signing Ronaldo and although he refused to rule it out, he said the club’s priorities lay elsewhere.
He said: ‘I would not rule out signing another striker, but it’s not our priority,’ said the Chelsea boss. ‘The priority right now is our defence, it’s not a secret. ‘We lost top players and so now we need to replace them.’
Tuchel was referring to the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Christensen, while doubts still remain over the futures of Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.
Chelsea are expecting to complete the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and remain in negotiations with Manchester City over Nathan Ake who has been deemed surplus to requirements by the club.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, must now assess whether to move ahead with his desire to leave the Red Devils, or commit to Erik ten Hag’s rebuilding project for another 12 months.
Last season’s 24-goal top scorer has missed pre-season in its entirety so far having been given leave owing to a ‘family issue’.
