Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger will both depart Chelsea at the end of the season.
As quoted by the Independent, Tuchel announced the imminent exits of the two centre-backs.
Rudiger and Christensen depart
Whilst Rudiger’s move to Real Madrid has been out in the public for some time, this is possibly the first-time fans have heard about Christensen’s exit directly from the manager.
But supporters have surely sensed the defender’s transfer out of Stamford Bridge for a while.
The Denmark international has continued to run down his contract, which expires in June, with Barcelona reportedly the club set to sign him.
Like Rudiger, he was unable to lure a pay rise out of Chelsea and will seemingly be unwilling to wait for the new owners to be officially installed to speak about a potential extension.
With Christensen heading for the exit door along with his fellow defensive partner, Tuchel’s rear-guard is looking limper by the day.
Especially as Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso could also leave over the summer, as Barca apparently want to bring the Spaniards home.
Thiago Silva’s injury status after the FA Cup final loss to Liverpool will only add to the concerns.
Worries that ramped up because of that defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Losing ground on Liverpool
The Reds carried on their search for a historic quadruple by winning Saturday’s final on penalties.
Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with West Ham United means they are still in with a chance of lifting the Premier League, whilst also having the Champions League final to look forward to.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are going to finish the campaign without any domestic silverware and potentially a fourth-place finish in the league, depending how the last two fixtures pan out.
Tuchel’s side are currently 16-points behind Liverpool, a gap that could be extended tonight at St. Mary’s.
A distance that the German coach believed will extend further next year due to the players dropping out of his squad.
“It’s maybe impossible. I have to say, maybe impossible,” said the Blues boss on bridging the distance between himself and Klopp’s group.
“They are improving their squad in every transfer window they have.
“It seems like we are losing key players. We are losing, of course, Toni, we’re losing Andreas. So this is tough and we already have gap close.”
Liverpool deserve credit for continuously building upon what they already have with clever recruitment.
Compared to Chelsea’s recent random transfer policy, the Anfield hierarchy have totally nailed it.
So it’s no surprise that Todd Boehly seemingly wants to copy their business model once he fully replaces Roman Abramovich.
Maybe then Tuchel will get on over his fellow countryman.
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