Christian Pulisic says he is ‘exited’ by the arrival of Raheem Sterling at Chelsea and says he will ‘thrive’ off the strong competition for a place in Tuchel’s side.
Chelsea completed their first summer signing this week as Sterling joined in a £47.5m deal from Manchester City.
Pulisic, meanwhile, has been hampered by injuries since his move from Borussia Dortmund in 2019 and started just 13 matches in the Premier League last campaign.
The United States international’s chances of regular playing time could be reduced after the arrival of Sterling, but the player is adamant that Chelsea’s players should expect stiff competition.
When asked about the Blues’ decision to sign Sterling, Pulisic told ESPN: ‘Great quality. We’re really excited about it. ‘The beautiful thing about being at a club like this is the competition every single day.
‘We all thrive competing with each other in training and getting to play with each other is just another great addition to the team.
‘It doesn’t change a whole lot [for me], I’m still going to have to play hard and earn my position, just like I did before, nothing crazy has changed.
‘This is Chelsea, this is what you signed up for, this is the kind of club it is with the calibre of players that we have.’
Meanwhile, Tuchel has confirmed that Sterling is unlikely to take part in Chelsea’s first pre-season friendly game against Club America in Las Vegas on Saturday.
‘He is on an individual programme, he didn’t join the team because some of the team are two weeks ahead of him with training sessions, double training sessions, and there are intense training sessions ahead of him,’ Tuchel said.
‘It is not the moment that he joins full team training in every minute on the pitch.
‘For Raheem, we have not decided the line up but he did not train every minute with the team so it is not very likely that he will play.’
