Tuchel hails his middle men after nominations

THOMAS TUCHEL believes the nominating of Jorginho and N’Golo Kante for UEFA Player of the Year is a good sign for football as the Chelsea pair are “true team players”.

Record signing Romelu Lukaku is set to make his Chelsea debut at Arsenal tomorrow after his £97.5million transfer.

But the three stars short-listed for the best player of last season are all midfielders for the first time with Kevin De Bruyne joining Jorginho and Kante, left, ahead of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski.

Chelsea manager Tuchel, who is up for the Coach of the Year award announced next week, said: “It is a good sign for football that these three guys are competing for footballer of the year in Europe. It’s a team sport and that’s why we love it.

“I see all of them as true team players and true helpers who make things easier for the others, who are not shy to take any job on the field that helps their team-mates and maybe doesn’t make them shine even. This is the true characteristic of them.” Jorginho followed the Champions League triumph with the Euro 2020 title with Italy, but Chelsea ended the domestic season with three defeats out of four games.

That run started with a home defeat to Arsenal – the Gunners were the only side to do the double over the Blues last season – when Emile Smith Rowe scored following a bad back-pass from the Italian.

Tuchel said: “That was a pretty tough one actually because it cost us some points and some nerves at the end to fight for the top four.

“Since then, I don’t think he has made a crucial mistake. It happens. Towards the end of the season we over-used him also a little bit because he was always available.

“Hopefully he can play without that big mistake, but we are very happy with the style that he plays and we trust him. He is a top guy and we are happy to have him.”

The German is also delighted to have Lukaku available for his second Chelsea debut after a “heavy load” for the Belgian in training this week.

“We’re hoping he’s on the pitch Sunday and it looks like that,” said Tuchel.

“Romelu has the personality and profile we were missing up front. Does this add the pressure on me, personally? Yes, but I don’t feel it.

“We try to make the squad better and to be better is to be on the same level as last season, but consistently over a longer period.”