Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea will look at signing new players during the January window as the club continue to be linked with moves for Everton’s Lucas Digne and Barcelona defender Sergino Dest.
With Chelsea surrendering their lead at the top of the league table and slipping ten points behind Manchester City, the club’s board are expected to improve Tuchel’s squad at Stamford Bridge this month.
Not only has their form dropped – the team have drawn four of their last five league matches – but the squad has also been affected by injuries and Covid-19.
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Ben Chilwell will miss the rest of the campaign with his knee injury, while fellow England international Reece James will be out for at least two months with a hamstring issue.
With Chelsea’s first-choice full-backs both injured, the European champions have been linked with moves for Everton’s Digne and Dest in recent weeks, and Tuchel says new signings could arrive in London.
Asked to give an update on the club’s January transfer plans, Tuchel said on Friday: ‘We are discussing and we are in talks with the staff and the board and the scouts, checking the possibility [of new signings] which is what we would always do.
‘We are looking into the market, into the possibility. We’re not under the very highest pressure and things have to make sense, personality wise, position wise and the quality has to be there. But we will check out options.’
Tuchel, who led Chelsea to the Champions League title last campaign, was speaking before Saturday’s third-round FA Cup game with non-league club Chesterfield.
The Blues reached the FA Cup final last campaign before losing 1-0 to Leicester City and Tuchel has urged his team not to take Chesterfield lightly.
‘There are a lot of teams with unfinished business in the FA Cup except for Leicester,’ the German boss said. ‘If we want to go back to Wembley we have to win tomorrow. Tomorrow is the business and we have enough to work on, improve, show, and prove ourselves on the pitch.
‘Don’t judge the opponent and importance of the game, go and do our thing and this is what I demand of myself and the players.’
After the home victory on Wednesday, Tuchel said: ‘It seems like a deserved win, an excellent result because it reflects the game, we could have scored more but it is hard to score against Tottenham.
‘We did create a lot, some huge chances, it could have been possible to score more, the up side is everybody knows it is going to be a tough match, it is not decided yet.’
