Tuchel makes heartfelt promise to Chelsea fans

CHELSEA boss Thomas Tuchel has promised to still be at Stamford Bridge next season, despite the uncertainty around the future of the club.

And the German says there needs to be a “very big” rebuild in west London.

Chelsea have endured a chaotic few months after Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale when he was sanctioned in the wake of his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the Blues confirmed that Todd Boehly, the co-owner of baseball team Los Angeles Dodgers and basketball team Los Angeles Lakers, had agreed a deal to buy Chelsea.

If the deal gets the green light from the government, there could be changes to how the club are run. But Tuchel has revealed he has no plans to go anywhere.

“What I can promise is that I will be here if I can promise that,” the ex-Paris SaintGermain manager explained.

“I will be here with full energy and positive energy no matter what. We will still work for Chelsea and I refuse to think of negative scenarios.”

After Abramovich was sanctioned, Chelsea were banned from signing new players and have been unable to offer any current players new deals.

The Blues are now set to lose star defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen as a result of the ruling when their contracts expire this summer.

And Tuchel has joked that he hasn’t been able to replace the duo with Borussia Dortmund ace Erling Haaland, who has reached an agreement in principle to join Manchester City.

“It is a very big task,” the 48-year-old continued. “We tried to replace with Haaland – but he is now gone.”

But the manager is still expecting a good season next time around.

“We will be competitive,” he added. “We are rebuilding, not improving the squad. We are rebuilding. This is always challenging but we are up for the challenge.

“It has been difficult for the club since the sanctions. Put it into perspective, there is no need to lose sleep after this season but there’s a lot of ambition in us that is not satisfied.” – Express Newspapers