{"id":608454,"date":"2022-01-21T14:36:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T19:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=608454"},"modified":"2022-01-21T14:36:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T19:36:27","slug":"ousmane-dembele-to-chelsea-thomas-tuchel-responds-to-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/01\/21\/ousmane-dembele-to-chelsea-thomas-tuchel-responds-to-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea: Thomas Tuchel Responds to Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chelsea<\/a> manager Thomas Tuchel has today responded to the reports linking Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea. The Frenchman is out of contract at Barcelona this summer but has been told he can move this month. Newcastle United<\/a> have been linked with the player and today Chelsea were said to be interested in signing the 24-year-old former Borussia Dortmund<\/a>\u00a0winger.<\/p>\n

Thomas Tuchel responds to Reports Linking Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea This Month<\/h2>\n

What Was Said?<\/h3>\n

Ahead of Sunday’s London derby with Tottenham Hotspur<\/a>, Tuchel was asked in his pre-match press conference<\/a> about the reports linking Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea. The Chelsea manager said:\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s a very good player in his top level and I\u2019m very fortunate to have trained him in my time at Dortmund.\u00a0It was only one year, it should\u2019ve been longer but I needed to leave and he decided to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s in a situation, I have absolutely no idea why he\u2019s in that situation. I have no idea what the situation in detail is. I know how I feel when it\u2019s about my players so it\u2019s better not to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Strangers to Each Other<\/h3>\n

As well as working together for one year at Dortmund where they helped the club win its first major trophy in five years, the German Cup, they have also kept in contact since going their separate ways. While Tuchel was manager of Paris Saint-Germain and Dembele was away from Barcelona on international duty the pair would exchange messages. Tuchel said<\/a>: “We\u2019ve met here and there because of his duties for the French national team and I was in Paris so this was more or less for when they were preparing for international duties. It\u2019s very near Paris so this is where we met and exchanged some messages.”<\/p>\n

Barcelona Career Over as Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea Rumours Gather Pace<\/h3>\n

Dembele’s contract at Barcelona<\/a> runs out this summer and it appears that his career with the Spanish giants is now over. Both club and player have ended up in a stalemate over a new deal. With Dembele rejecting any contract offered to him by the club, Barcelona’s Director of Football Mateu Alemany broke his silence on the situation. He told Marca<\/a> on January 20: We began conversations with Demb\u00e9l\u00e9’s agents in July.\u00a0Six or seven months have already passed since then\u00a0in which we have talked and in which Barcelona has made\u00a0different offers. We have tried to find a way for the player to stay with us. Offers that have been systematically rejected by his agents.<\/p>\n

In the absence of a positive response, the club has chosen to act: \u201cNow, eleven days before closing the last term of his contract, the club understands that the player does not want to renew and that he is not committed to Bar\u00e7a’s future project He and his agents\u00a0<\/strong>have\u00a0been told that he\u00a0has to leave the club\u00a0and that he has to seek a transfer before January 31.”<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>