Auba could play next week in a face mask
Tuchel says new signing is eager despite broken jaw
THOMAS TUCHEL hopes Pierre-emerick Aubameyang is available sooner than expected after the striker travelled to italy to get a face mask fitted.
Aubameyang suffered a broken jaw in an armed robbery at his home in Barcelona and flew to visit the same specialist Antonio Rudiger used after a deadline-day move to Chelsea on thursday.
He was expected to be out for weeks but tuchel said: ‘We’ll try with a mask. it depends a little bit on what the specialists say, who create the mask for him.
‘then it is how he adapts, so maybe it could be tuesday (in the Champions league against Dinamo Zagreb), although maybe this is too soon. So maybe it’s Fulham, a week later.
‘the very latest is after the national break but we will try to push things and Auba is happy to push things. He is out there now at the specialist to get his mask done and then he tries, i think, Sunday in training.’
tuchel knows Aubameyang well after managing him at Borussia
Dortmund for two seasons, during which the striker scored 79 goals in 95 appearances.
Asked if he had spoken to Aubameyang about the robbery, tuchel said: ‘Not yet. But it’s the most horrible situation you can think about. if somebody can deal with it and digest it, it’s a personality like Auba. A very positive person but, yeah, we need to speak about it. He will
get all the help we can give him but as i know Auba, he will very soon love to talk about football and very soon love to get it out of his head by sweating it out. But it is something extraordinary that nobody likes to experience.’
tuchel’s admiration for Aubameyang was evident in the warmth of his words. the Gabon international left Arsenal under a cloud in February to join
PS
The mask Aubameyang will wear won’t be quite like this Black Panther one he once sported while celebrating a goal for Arsenal!
Barcelona after falling foul of boss Mikel Arteta’s rules.
tuchel dismissed doubts about Aubameyang’s professionalism, insisting he only broke club rules once during their time in Germany. ‘i truly believe we have zero risk for our dressing room,’ tuchel added.
‘But if you look at his record, he did what he did wherever he was and in a certain style. We checked, of course, his data. He still has the top speed, so why not?’
Striker Armando Broja has committed his long-term future to Chelsea by signing a new six-year deal.
But fellow frontman Michy Batshuayi has left the club on a free transfer to turkish side Fenerbahce. the 28- year- old Belgium international saw a move to Nottingham Forest collapse on deadline day.