Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel dismissed speculation linking him with a move away from the Premier League club amid uncertainty over their future, saying on Friday he was fully committed to the team and willing to adapt to a new owner’s demands.
Several bidders have announced they will seek to buy Chelsea from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the British government after his country invaded Ukraine in what it calls a “special operation.”
Tuchel, who guided the London side to the Champions League title last year and will prepare them to face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals this season, has been linked by British media with a move to Manchester United.
“Do you feel me less committed to the club or less involved with the club? Absolutely not,” Tuchel told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Middlesbrough.
“I love to be here and work for Chelsea and this club has everything it needs to make me happy. We have plenty of reasons to stay in the moment and that’s what we’re doing.”
The German said fear and uncertainty were normal feelings in the team’s current situation but added that he was ready to rise to the challenge of working with new team owners.
“I’m an employee and I’m ready to play my role and adapt,” Tuchel said. “Let’s see what’s coming… We can trust in what we have – the culture of the club and the quality of the group and quality of support – and trust there will be a good outcome.
“The new owner isn’t here and the ideas aren’t set out, we don’t know what’s coming so let’s cross the river when we’re at the bridge. Hopefully they love winning. It would be a plus.”
Tuchel said Chelsea would travel for Saturday’s game by plane despite government restrictions that have impacted their spending. Forward Kai Havertz had previously said he would pay for his own travel to away matches.
“Everybody worked hard to make it happen and it has gone through,” Tuchel said. “We can travel by plane which is very good because as you know we only had the Lille match two days ago so we want to minimise the time of travel and maximise the time for recovery to reduce the risk of injuries so we’re very happy.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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