Tuchel now wants £55m man at Bayern Munich after almost convincing him to join Chelsea

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Thomas Tuchel is now keen to sign Raphinha for Bayern Munich – a player he almost managed to get his hands on at Chelsea.

That is according to Florian Plettenburg of Sky Germany.

There have actually been fresh links between Chelsea and Raphinha – although Thomas Tuchel could throw a spanner in the works for his old side.

What’s the story?

Well, Plettenburg states that Tuchel once tried to convince the Brazil international to join Chelsea.

Eventually, Raphinha ended up departing Leeds for Barcelona in a £55m deal.

There have since been claims – mainly from SPORT in Spain – that Chelsea will make another attempt to sign the South American this summer, with Todd Boehly ready to enter negotiations.

However, the American could lose out to Tuchel – the man he sacked back in September.

Plettenburg describes the German as someone who is a huge fan of Raphinha, and the 49-year-old is monitoring the winger’s situation at Barcelona.

Spanish news outlet AS have suggested that Barcelona would be open to selling the Brazilian as they attempt to free up finances to bring Lionel Messi back to the Camp Nou.

Chelsea should leave Raphinha to Tuchel

In our view, the Blues should not waste time rivalling Tuchel for Raphinha’s signature this summer.

Chelsea have no urgent need for a new right-winger after signing Noni Madueke in January, someone who is very similar to the Barcelona No.22 from a stylistic viewpoint.

Raphinha also struggled at times during his debut campaign in Catalonia, so it would be a risk to spend heavily on his services – the fact Barcelona are already open to selling him speaks volumes.

Of course, if a deal presents itself in a way that is very favourable for Chelsea, then there’s no harm in exploring it, but the Blues shouldn’t make the 26-year-old a priority this summer.