Tuchel rules out player of Manchester City clash, Blues set to use Ziyech in a swap deal to sign £69m La Liga star, as Source claims £150m superstar could move to Chelsea
Mateo Kovacic ruled out of Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final
Chelsea will be without star midfielder Mateo Kovacic for their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City this weekend, as confirmed by Tuchel in his post-match press conference on Tuesday.
That means N’Golo Kante, who has endured hamstring injuries of late, will have to play another 90 minutes or more against one of the best teams in the world at the moment.
Speaking after the quarter-final win over Porto, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said:
“Yesterday in training, he got a muscle injury in his hamstring after 20 minutes, more or less out of nothing. He is, for sure, out for the game against (Manchester) City as well, which is a big loss. I was very sad for him”.
Waxing lyrical on Kovacic for his experience, Tuchel added:
“We don’t have too many experienced players who have played Champions League many times. When the anthem plays, he (Kovacic) is relaxed, and at the same time, he is a hard fighter. Everybody is happy to have him around, so we did it also for him today.”
Blues set to use Ziyech in a swap deal to sign £69m La Liga star
Chelsea are reportedly willing to involve Hakim Ziyech in a player-plus-cash deal to secure services of Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde.
Thomas Tuchel is keen to recruit a new defender to pair him with Thiago Silva this summer and has identified the 22-year-old Sevilla man as a top transfer target.
According to Spanish news outlet AS, the West London club are not prepared to meet Kounde’s £69m asking price, however, are considering using Ziyech as part of a deal to lure him away from Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium.
Ziyech only moved to Stamford Bridge last summer from Dutch giants, Ajax for around £37.8m, however he has failed to live up to expectations and struggles to cement regular first-team spot under Thomas Tuchel.
The 28-year-old, who has managed to found back of the net four times and provided four assists in 29 games, is one of six players that the Blues could use to tempt Sevilla to part ways with their star centre-back.
Kounde, who has previously been rumoured with a move to Real Madrid, Man Utd and Man City has made 41 appearances in all competitions so far this term and has kept 14 clean sheets in La Liga, the joint-most in the division.
David Ginola claims this English superstar could move to Chelsea
According to Evening Standard, David Ginola believes that Chelsea could be an option for Harry Kane should he leave. The former Newcastle and Spurs player feels that the striker could join one of the London clubs, Chelsea or West Ham if they make it to the Champions League.
The Spurs talisman is said to be unhappy at his club due to their premature exit from the Europa League and could take the decision to leave the club. Despite scoring bucketloads of goals for Spurs, Kane is yet to win a single trophy in his career.
While he may break that duck against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, Tottenham are unlikely to guarantee him success. It looks as though Kane is finally tired of the problems plaguing Spurs as their wait for a trophy continues.
Kane has gone public on occasions, citing his ambitions to win silverware and was even linked with a move away from the club previously.
Chelsea have had their problems with forwards in recent seasons, with no striker seemingly being able to nail down a starting berth. Timo Werner looks like an expensive mistake. Olivier Giroud is on the wrong side of 30 and Tammy Abraham is being overlooked.
Now Ginola feels Chelsea can be a possible destination for the Spurs ace.
“It will be quite expensive to buy Harry Kane because he’s one of the best strikers in modern football. Also, when he comes to make a decision like that, you also refer to the family.
If the family is fine in London, he might play for another London club and stay in London. He’s an English boy, he loves London and maybe he’d consider an offer from a London club.”
It points towards Chelsea and West Ham as the only two clubs competing for the Champions League spots this season. A striker like Kane would no doubt solve the issues in one go but given the history and relation between the clubs, this deal has no way of seeing daylight.
The rivalry is too intense and in all honesty, it looks unlikely that Kane would irk the fans by moving to a rival.