Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Trevoh Chalobah will remain part of his first-team squad for this campaign and has even hinted at using him in a midfield role.
He was expected to be loaned out for the fourth consecutive season but impressed the German coach in pre-season, earning a start against Villarreal in the Super Cup before scoring on his Premier League debut.
Tuchel has now decided to veto another loan move for Chalobah and wants him to remain at the club, while his emergence may have erased Chelsea’s need to sign a new defender and a new midfielder.
‘I think he did a fantastic pre-season with us and he’s a very good player and even more importantly a top character. He has both feet on the ground and he took his chance very impressively,’ said the German coach on Friday.
‘He played very, very good matches in pre-season, he performed 120 minutes against Villarreal and another strong 90 minutes against Crystal Palace.
‘So I think it’s very logical that he stays with us and is looking for his chance here. We let some players go and Trevoh is the guy we absolutely want to keep and this is the status for him.
‘I absolutely don’t know anything about the contract situation I just know that we had a talk yesterday [Thursday] and I think that his situation is he went out for loans, he had the minutes he needed to develop and now is a good moment to stay with us and to be part of the group.’
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On the possibility of Chalobah being deployed in midfield, Tuchel added: ‘We know this. For us so far he’s only played in the back three so right now I would say these are the positions where he can maybe achieve the most in high-level football.
‘But it’s only my opinion after six or seven weeks and there’s enough room and enough space and enough time to convince me that he is maybe even the solution for us as the fourth midfielder. One time we will maybe try it.
‘There is some stuff to improve on at this kind of level when the game is so tight, when you need to open spaces so quickly. It’s a big difference to play in midfield in the Premier League or, with all due respect, in a smaller team in France where you can maybe rely on ball wins and transition game.
‘We have many phases where we have a lot of ball possession and need to find creative solutions. So hopefully we don’t need to try it because that would mean our three top guys are in shape and healthy, but we have this in mind.
‘We just talked on the pitch about it with the staff because he was doing a good ball possession exercise in the middle of the pitch and I just asked the same question to all of us, “Could he even maybe be a number four solution?” We need to find it out and give some time.
‘I think now is not the time to confuse him and to try too many roles. He’s settled in, he’s settled in the back three, he knows now and learns now what it takes to play in this position in terms of football tactics, behaviour and principles of the game, now he needs to learn what it takes to be a professional for Chelsea.
‘He has big role models at his side, big experience and top players so, step-by-step, and sometimes maybe we will put him in midfield when all the other processes are done.’
