Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirms huge Chelsea boost despite Roman Abramovich’s sanctions

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has reiterated his love for the club by insisting he’s happy to be Chelsea manager, despite the latest restrictions being placed at Stamford Bridge.

The UK government confirmed on Thursday that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was part of seven oligarchs whose assets would be frozen due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The news has raised questions on the long-term future of Chelsea and its players, with sanctions restricting the club from making money that will benefit their owner.

As long as the sanctions remain, Chelsea will not be able to sign players or sell players to raise money, which will test Abramovich’s true love for the club.

The European Champions have also been barred from selling matchday tickets and merchandise, with many players said to be assessing their future at Stamford Bridge.

The future of defensive trio Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and César Azpilicueta is up in the air, with their contracts running out this summer and the club unable to offer new deals.

There are fears that manager Thomas Tuchel could be tempted by a more lucrative deal to swap London for Manchester, with United in desperate need of a high-calibre manager.

But the German tactician, who has led the club to both the Champions League and the Club World Cup in the last 12 months, said his journey at the Blues is only just starting.

What the Chelsea boss said

Tuchel had been linked with the Manchester United job in the summer, with Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher urging the German to take the job.

But the German insists he has no immediate plans to leave Stamford Bridge, despite the recent uncertainty surrounding the club.

He said: “Take me? I hope I made it very clear that I am very happy where I am.

“My first talks were with Marina (Granovskaia) and Petr (Cech) and still my talks are with these two, who are the representatives and most decisive people in the club apart from the owner.

“I was involved with them and I enjoyed it and for me, it was as of today, a perfect fit and I hope it will stay like this. I see for me personally no reason to enter any thoughts even of losing that.

“It is not finished here, by far not finished. It just started and is so promising.

“We have a strong group and a strong club and sometimes in life and in professional life you need the luck to enter an environment where you feel comfortable and everybody else feels comfortable with you.

“At the moment I feel this is the case and I appreciate that a lot and I am not keen, not at all, to change.”

Keeping focused on football

The message out of Chelsea following news of the Abramovich sanctions, has been to keep their eyes on the ball and that is what the team did against Norwich.

Young defender Trevoh Chalobah and the club’s Premier League top scorer for this season Mason Mount gave the Blues a 2-0 lead, before a late Teemu Pukki strike reduced the deficit.

But in-form forward Kai Havertz scored the third for Chelsea to put the game beyond the hosts.