Thomas Tuchel has admitted for the first time having to consider players’ vaccination status during the transfer market.
The Chelsea boss is still out here on the club’s US tour without N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, both of whom have yet to take the Covid vaccine, rendering them unable to travel. The pair were instead in an Under-23 line-up taking on Boreham Wood on Friday.
Tuchel said: “I knew some players who I would also take without vaccination. I have to say. But yes, it is a part of daily life at the moment.” Pressed on whether a player’s decision over taking the vaccine has come into his thinking, he added: “Yes, it has to.”
The German has welcomed Kalidou Koulibaly into his squad here in Las Vegas after the £34million Senegal defender signed a four-year deal to move to Stamford Bridge. Tuchel has also turned his attentions to Sevilla’s France centre-back Jules Kounde, with Nathan Ake now staying at Manchester City.
And the Chelsea boss is continuing to pursue PSG’s Presnel Kimpenmbe to complete his defensive options for the new season. But Tuchel admitted that any new recruits’ vaccination status will continue play a big part in his thinking this summer, with Covid cases back on the rise again across Europe.
Asked about Kante’s pre-season programme, he added: “He is preparing himself with Ruben. We cannot force them [to take the vaccine]. It is at the moment a very normal decision to get vaccinated. Both players took the decision not to. We need to follow the rules. They cannot join us. They know about the consequences. We don’t like it. Of course not.
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“We would love to have them here and it's not an ideal solution. Far from it. But, once the situation is like this you need to come up with a solution. So they have their coaches there. They train with the Under-23s. Then they go with the Under-19s to not be completely not be in a group. But it will not compensate. It will not be the same.”
Chelsea are playing Club America here in Nevada on Saturday in their first pre-season game of this tour. Tuchel has turned the setback of losing Kante into a positive with the France midfielder handed his own personal programme to prevent a repeat of last season’s injury-plagued campaign.
“For N’Golo, it is maybe not even the worst thing to do,” he added. “We can give him a very individual load. I don’t think he needs a long time to adapt to our game because N’Golo is N’Golo and everybody is aware that he is a key player.”
Kante and Italy midfielder Jorginho have just a year left on their contracts. Tuchel admitted talks are already underway with new owner Todd Boelhy to ensure both players do not leave for free as Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christiansen did this summer.
“Everybody is aware of the situation,” he said. “Now only with N’Golo but also Jorginho. We knew about the situation with Andreas and Toni and we don’t want this. “So we are on it to solve it in the best interests of the club.”
