Thomas
Tuchel says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is hungry to play for Chelsea and
prove a point ahead of his possible debut for the club in the Champions
League.
Chelsea signed Aubameyang from Barcelona on Deadline Day, seven months after
he was shown the door at Arsenal following off-the-fields issues with head
coach Mikel Arteta.
Aubameyang suffered a fractured jaw during a break-in ahead of completing
his switch to Stamford Bridge but travelled with the Chelsea squad to
Croatia and trained wearing a protective face mask ahead of Tuesday's Group
E opener against Dinamo Zagreb.
Tuchel confirmed Aubameyang. could make his debut either from the start or
from the bench against Dinamo and is relishing watching the 33-year-old
prove his point as the spearhead of the Chelsea attack.
"We had the opportunity to take everybody who was available to Zagreb to do
our last training here, that includes Denis [Zakaria] and [Pierre-Emerick]
Aubameyang," Tuchel told his pre-match press conference.
"Aubameyang had a test with his mask, felt fine, trained normal, so if
everything goes well today, they will both be available."
On Aubameyang, Tuchel continued: "He's the sort of player [to thrive in
adversity], he's very ambitious, very focused, and he's hungry to play for
us and prove a point still.
"That's why he's here, that's what we felt from the first moment and he's
happily invited to prove a point tomorrow."
Asked whether Aubameyang had encountered any issues while training in his
face mask, Tuchel replied: "If an issue will come up we will not play put
him, of course, but there was no issue for him yesterday and I hope there
will not be an issue today.
"Is he ready to start? Of course. But he cannot play 90 minutes, it's about
us taking a decision on how we manage the minutes. It's clear he needs
minutes to get his rhythm and fitness, so it is on us to find the solution
if he comes from the bench or starts."
Chelsea will be without defensive lynchpin Thiago Silva for their Champions
League opener, with Tuchel confirming the Brazilian had not travelled with
the squad to allow him to time to recover from their hectic start to the
Premier League season.
"We decided with Thiago [Silva] he will have a break from the travelling,
from the stress, he's played every minute so far in very intense matches,"
Tuchel said.
"It was the moment to give him a break instead of putting him on the bench
and having the travel issues. He will take care of his recovery."
Chelsea arrived in Zagreb in a buoyant mood after Saturday's controversial
2-1 victory over London rivals West Ham was followed by the news wing-back
Reece James had signed a new five-year contract to keep him at Stamford
Bridge until 2027.
The England international has made 128 appearances for the Blues, scoring 10
goals, after coming through the Premier League club's academy, and helped
Chelsea win the Champions League in 2021.
"He's a very decisive player for us," Tuchel added. "He's an academy player.
We told you many times how important he is and I think his development is
far from over.
"There is a lot for him to learn and a lot to come from him, but I'm happy
to have a key player with us for so many years."
Kovacic backs Aubameyang to thrive at
Chelsea
Mateo Kovacic has tipped "proven goalscorer" Aubameyang to add vital
firepower to Chelsea's forward line.
Croatia midfielder Kovacic will be filled with pride to go up against his
first and home club on Tuesday, but also hopes to see Aubameyang flourish in
Chelsea blue.
"I can say he will be a big addition to us," said Kovacic. "He's a proper
striker, a goalscorer, which we have missed.
"In the last years we haven't had a 20, 25-goal striker that you need to win
the title. So we're looking forward to having him in our squad.
"He's a proven goalscorer. It's normal for him to score goals and I hope he
will do it here at Chelsea also."
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