Chelsea manager issues ‘urgent’ transfer update following Arsenal defeat

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has issued an ‘urgent appeal’ for new players following his side’s pre-season friendly defeat against Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Albert Sambi Lokonga and summer signing Gabriel Jesus all scored as the Gunners ran out comfortable 4-0 winners to claim the Florida Cup at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Both of Tuchel’s summer signings started the game as former Manchester City star Raheem Sterling was named in the starting eleven before being replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta.

Fellow new boy Kalidou Koulibaly replaced Thiago Silva during the second-half and was immediately named as Chelsea’s best player on the night by the Blues boss.

More new faces are being targeted with talks over a move for Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde ongoing and fresh links have surfaced over reported interest in Inter Milan’s Dutch international defender Denzel Dumfries and RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol.

Tuchel delivered a worrying assessment of the current situation on transfer targets and admitted his side were ‘not competitive’ in their meeting with the London rivals.

Speaking after the game, he said: “Unfortunately, it proved my point and the last week proves my point (needing new signings).

“I would prefer to not be right and I did everything to prove myself wrong, but at the moment I feel I was right when I look at the last season and at the parts of the game where we struggled and how we struggled.

“We got sanctioned and players left us, we know that some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players.

"We’ve got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today.”

Chelsea return to action on Friday night when they face Serie A side Udinese at the Dacia Arena in their final pre-season fixture.