Report: Tuchel not pushing to sign ‘fantastic’ £43m star, but Chelsea could sign him anyway

Add as preferred source on Google

Thomas Tuchel is reportedly not the person at Chelsea driving a potential bargain deal for Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez.

That’s according to ESPN, who claim that the Blues boss is not personally forcing this theoretical move over the line.

In the past few days, Saul has hit hard on Chelsea’s radar, after it was prompted by the Telegraph that they plotting to place a loan offer on the table to Atletico.

It always appeared the Spaniard was going to depart this boyhood club this summer, after falling down the pecking order under his lifelong coach Diego Simeone last season.

His compass seemed to be pointing toward the Premier League as the next destination after La Liga.

Manchester United have long been admirers of the 26-year-old and there are mighty suggestions he will be playing at Old Trafford this term.

But with Chelsea now in the picture, their route to the midfielder is not so straightforward.

Tuchel time

ESPN do maintain that the Champions League holders and Atletico are in conversation over the possible trade for Saul, on loan with an option to buy.

That permanent agreement would probably cost around £43m (Mundo Deportivo), as that is the region Liverpool were being ordered to meet last month.

Yet, they have also given an indication of how Tuchel feels about this transfer.

They say he is not insistent on signing the silky no.8 as his current squad is in a stable enough condition already.

N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic combine to create a fierce midfield trio, one that Saul would probably be fourth in line for.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ethan Ampadu are in contention to play a part this year, although they could still be shipped out before the window ends.

However, sometimes life presents opportunities that are too hard to turn down.

Landing Saul, for very little charge, would be a fine acquisition for the European conquerors.

Just ask Pep Guardiola, who once described the man from Madrid as ‘fantastic’ and exceptional’.

Quality in abundance, with the CV to match, he is a class act who just needs the stage to perform his magic.

Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Twitter account here.