Thomas Tuchel has responded to a fan who quizzed the Chelsea head coach over their interest in wantaway Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is ready to leave Old Trafford this summer following their failure to qualify for this season’s Champions League, despite only returning to the club from Juventus last summer.
He hasn’t joined up with the Man United squad for their pre-season tour yet due to ‘family reasons’ and has been linked with a whole host of European clubs.
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Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have all been credited with potential interest, with Blues co-owner Todd Boehly meeting his agent, Jorge Mendes, last month.
Ronaldo was brought up in discussions and a decision was left with Tuchel over whether Chelsea would consider making a transfer swoop for the 37-year-old.
As per The Independent, they claimed the ‘current feeling’ was that the German wasn’t sold on the idea of bringing Ronaldo to Stamford Bridge this summer.
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Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City after agreeing an initial £47.5 million fee, as well as personal terms, which saw him begin his medical in London on Sunday night.
He will join up with the squad in America this week after the squad flew out to Los Angeles on Saturday.
As the transfer business goes on behind the scenes, working to bring new faces into Tuchel’s squad, Tuchel responded to Chelsea’s reported interest in Ronaldo.
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“Thomas, do we sign Cristiano Ronaldo?” asked a fan in America.
While signing autographs, Tuchel replied: “I will not tell you!”
Tuchel is without a recognised senior centre-forward after losing Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan last month.
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He has Michy Batshuayi and Armando Broja currently at his disposal, while Kai Havertz and Timo Werner can be deployed in the role.
Chelsea have yet to make a concrete move for Ronaldo which leaves two outcomes: 1. They are still weighing up a move, or 2. Tuchel isn’t convinced and Ronaldo will not be heading to the capital this summer.
Chelsea also wanted Leeds United's Raphinha but Barcelona are set to win the £63 million transfer.
But, as reported by Nick Purewal, he was seen as a 'bonus' signing along with Sterling which begs the question if Chelsea will be in the market to bring another forward in.
Their first game of pre-season comes in the early hours of Sunday morning (UK) as they take on Club America in Las Vegas. Sterling is likely to be there, but it's still unclear if any new faces will be joining him.
Topics: Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United
Matthew Debono