Thomas
Tuchel says he did not have contact with Ousmane Dembele last month and
insists he is happy with Chelsea's "calm" January transfer window.
Chelsea made an enquiry about signing Dembele on Deadline Day after his
potential move to Paris Saint-Germain stalled, but talks failed to progress
and the winger will now see out the final months of his deal at Barcelona.
The Blues remain interested in signing Dembele in the summer - when he will
be a free agent - and Tuchel has spoken highly in the past of a player he
coached at Borussia Dortmund during the 2016/17 season.
Tuchel said: "I did not have contact with Ousmane. There was no contact in
winter."
The European champions experienced a quiet January window, with no
first-team arrivals or departures, and Tuchel said: "I'm very satisfied
because it was a calm window, and to be calm is always the best thing."
While the head coach admitted Chelsea were "open for things", he also said
the failure to replace injured wing-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell was
not a source of frustration.
"No, no frustration because I was also calm," Tuchel said. "I know what kind
of quality we would need to add to a very strong group. We trust in the
players that we have and it's my job to find solutions when we have
injuries.
"We tried, we had ideas, but in the end we stick to what we have and we're
happy with it. Reece will come back at some point - unfortunately not Ben
Chilwell.
"Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta) is at the moment in fantastic form and a fantastic
place, and that's why it's fine. We try to find solutions within our squad."
Laporta: We don't understand why Dembele
has stayed
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta
addressed the situation around Dembele, who was told to leave the club
during the January window after he turned down a new contract.
Laporta said: "Dembele was a big investment, with a big salary. He has been
one of the last minute situations. We offered him an extension, but he
wanted a better offer in economic terms.
"His agent decided to stay in silence and this, of course, has consequences
for the interests of the club.
"We presented two good offers for him for this remaining six months. He
didn't want to accept and we are surprised that he didn't accept the last
one with an English team.
"He has decided to stay here. It makes no sense. It is bad for him and bad
for the club.
"Extending the contract would have allowed us to extend our [financial] fair
play [capacity]. We were working till the last minute, until 12 o'clock,
with [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and it was difficult.
"We think he has an agreement with another club for the summer. This is what
the agent explained to us. I don't know what they think but we will act in
the interests of the club."
'We want Plymouth to have one of their
worst days'
Chelsea return to action after a 13-day break on Saturday when League One
play-off hopefuls Plymouth travel to Stamford Bridge for an FA Cup
fourth-round tie.
It is the second FA Cup match in succession that has seen Chelsea host
lower-league opponents following their 5-1 thrashing of National League side
Chesterfield last month.
But Tuchel has no interest in the romance of the cup, and wants his side to
ensure Plymouth endure a miserable day out at the home of the European
champions.
"Let's be very honest: we could easily say that it's the best day maybe in
their career, but we want to put it into one of the worst days of their
career," said Tuchel.
"We want to beat them and we want to make things clear that we are the
better side. We don't want them to have the best time of their lives, we
don't want them having a very good experience at Stamford Bridge.
"How will we do this? We treat them with respect, we will prepare the team
and we will have a strong team on the pitch tomorrow to make it to the next
round."
Chelsea will be without Ruben Loftus-Cheek, as well as James and Chilwell,
due to injury against Plymouth.
Tuchel revealed James is yet to return to team training after sustaining a
hamstring injury against Brighton on December 29, and that the England
defender will not travel to Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup next week.
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