The transfer of Ousmane Dembele is all but imminent. The wait is almost over. We can see the finish line but for one reason or the other, the Blues have not managed to get the deal done yet.
It is clear that Thomas Tuchel wants Dembele. Chelsea had registered their interest in the Frenchman as early as January this year. The French international chose to see out his contract at Barcelona before considering a move away, but his positive relationship with Tuchel indicated that Chelsea would be high on his list of options this summer.
Considering that Dembele is now a free agent and the transfer window has opened, you'd expect Marina Granovskaia and her team of negotiators to have this transfer wrapped up already. There has been a lot of interest from PSG and Barcelona themselves, so now Tuchel's plan A could need some convincing.
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It's no wonder that the Chelsea manager has told his Dortmund alumni the plans that he has for him already.
According to Shay Lugassi from BarcaTimes, Thomas Tuchel has spoken to Ousmane Dembele explaining his Chelsea project and the importance that Dembele will play in it. If this is the reason why Dembele eventually decides to pursue a future at Chelsea, it offers intriguing questions about the project that he sold, and how it would impact the rest of the team going forward.
As it stands, Chelsea have eight different attacking forwards. Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Romelu Lukaku have each complained about their lack of game time and with the introduction of Dembele, it's only going to decrease across the board. How would Tuchel be able to keep each player happy with the addition of the Frenchman?
While no player is a guaranteed starter at Chelsea, it would be unlikely that the former Barcelona player would agree to move to Stamford Bridge if he didn't think he'd have the edge over the other forwards. The 25-year-old would be more interested in resurrecting his career following a tricky era with the Catalans. However, players such as Werner, Ziyech and Pulisic would be looking to do the same. Is this the sign that Tuchel could be offloading an unexpected number of attackers this summer?
If Dembele is signed, it will be as a starter in Tuchel's project. And it could have a huge impact on the direction that the Blues take in the transfer window.
