Manager comments on ‘laughable’ rumours of Chelsea interest in his player

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Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has responded to Chelsea’s rumoured interest in centre-back Presnel Kimpembe.

Having recently announced the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli on Saturday morning, the Blues are expected to continue their pursuit of new defenders this summer.

Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger’s exits mean Thomas Tuchel will need to add at least two centre-backs as replacements.

Obviously, the manager always have the option to use the club’s homegrown talents, such as Levi Colwill or Ethan Ampadu, but a recent report from The Guardian claimed that Tuchel has already eyed more defensive targets, including PSG’s Kimpembe.

Tuchel worked with Kimpembe for a couple of years in Paris, so the reported transfer interest is hardly a surprise.

It remains unclear, however, whether the France international is interested in leaving a likely comfortable life at his boyhood club for a new challenge in the Premier League, especially with two years left in his contract.

PSG boss Galtier even found the transfer interest rather funny.

“I read everything that was said about Kim,” the former Nice manager told French outlet L’Equipe.

“We even laughed about it together. I like him as a player. He is straightforward in his approach to people.

“What will happen, I don’t know.”

Interestingly, Galtier also said that Kimpembe would be a very good option in a back-three system, which Tuchel primarily deploys at Chelsea.

“He [Kimpembe] is a great defender, a leader,” the manager explained.

“In this system (3-5-2) he can be very effective.”

Galtier was, of course, talking about the new formation he would likely want to implement at PSG, but he might also have helped explained the reason behind Tuchel’s reported interest in Kimpembe.

The 26-year-old mostly operates as a left centre-back in Mauricio Pochettino’s 4-3-3 formation last season, but he is also capable of playing as a left-back.

He is also left-footed, which makes him an ideal player in this position when playing from the back.

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