Thomas Tuchel insists he wants forward Christian Pulisic to remain at Chelsea amid sale talk

ByAlex Livie

Published 19/02/2021 at 21:37 GMT

Christian Pulisic has struggled to make an impact in the weeks following the German’s arrival at the club as successor to Frank Lampard. Speculation has suggested the United States international could be sold in the summer, but Thomas Tuchel wants him to stay and forge a successful career at Stamford Bridge

Thomas Tuchel has insisted he wants Christian Pulisic to stay at Chelsea, and stressed that no decision has been made on the forward's future.

The American arrived at Stamford Bridge from Borussia Dortmund in 2019 to plenty of fanfare.

While he has huge talent, the 22-year-old has struggled to show it on a regular basis - with his 2020-21 season disrupted by injuries.

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Pulisic, who played under Tuchel at Dortmund, has struggled to make an impact in the weeks following the German’s arrival at the club as successor to Frank Lampard.

Reports have claimed the United States international could be sold in the summer, but Tuchel is not contemplating an exit for Pulisic.

Asked if he wants Pulisic to stay at Chelsea, Tuchel replied: “Today a clear ‘yes’, but it’s not only my point of view, we have to see. But for me clearly yes.

Chelsea bought Christian for a reason, for his quality, his potential and it’s our job to bring out the best in him.

“He proved in many weeks that he has the level to be a regular Chelsea player, to have a big impact in this club. It’s a challenge now to hold this level, to improve and to maintain the level and to keep improving.”

While Tuchel is keen for Pulisic to forge a successful career in west London, he is concerned by the player’s injury troubles.

“The medical department is on that,” Tuchel said. “Now we have little issues in the calf, he stopped training yesterday before it became an injury.

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“So I would not say that it’s an injury. In the moment it’s a risk management and he’s not even injured - that relates to his history of having injuries, so we do not want to enter into the same cycle.

It’s sometimes like this and the main thing for Christian is to keep his head up, stay positive and be ready, because he can have a big impact when he starts and he can have a big, big impact when he comes on from the bench with his intensity.

“And there are absolutely no decisions made for summer, there is simply no time in the moment, this is not the moment now and there is today, no need to think about it.”

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