Thomas Tuchel has said in an interview with Chelsea that Raheem Sterling’s is frequently training alone as he looks to build his fitness levels.
The club’s first signing under Todd Boehly wasn’t present for their opening fixture of pre-season at the weekend, where they beat Club America 2-1 in Las Vegas.
The England international joined up with the squad late, after his situation began to drag out over where he would play his football this upcoming season.
Tuchel has said that this is one of the reasons behind his slow ease into the squad, although claims that the situation should not cause concern.
He said: “He knows so many players already that it’s not so hard for him to be welcomed in the group and feel welcomed.
“Going forward he does a lot of individual work because he came late and there wasn’t a lot of training in his legs. He’s in that transition part where he steps into team training but everything is fine.”
Tuchel says Sterling is fine
Reports have already claimed that the German sees Sterling as a top star at the club, with the player apparently targeting the Ballon d’Or during his time at Stamford Bridge.
With it looking increasingly likely that he will be the only attacking addition this summer, fans will be hopeful that he keeps up the impressive goalscoring and creativity shown under Pep Guardiola.
The Blues still have plenty of games to come in this pre-season, with a showdown with London rivals Arsenal awaiting them in Florida on Saturday night. The tour of the United States will also be followed by a friendly against Italian side Udinese.
With a fixture against Charlotte before then, expect Sterling to be pushing to make his debut against the English side he has enjoyed plenty of success against in the past.
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