"Kai Havertz drives me mad! He's useless, what's the point of the bloke?"

The Germany international moved to Stamford Bridge from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 and was initially used as an attacking midfielder.

Since Thomas Tuchel's arrival however, he's operated as a striker and impressed in that role at the start of this year.

"Havertz, he drives me mad. Somebody on the Chelsea website is right, he says Havertz plays like he’s working from home. That's exactly what it's like, he phones it in. He’s useless. What’s the point of the bloke? Once every 10 games he might do something. He doesn’t affect the game."

Chelsea allowed Romelu Lukaku to return to Inter Milan on loan earlier this summer and Timo Werner has also departed for RB Leipzig.

Hakim Ziyech's future remains up in the air, as does Christian Pulisic's and Callum Hudson-Odoi's.

Their only attacking arrival so far this summer is Raheem Sterling from Manchester City and Armando Broja is the only orthodox striker available to Tuchel.

When speaking about Aubameyang in the past, Tuchel said: "It was a pleasure to work with him. He always had a smile on his face. He was a very, very honest guy. A bit of a crazy guy, but this is nice crazy.

"We still are in touch from time to time and exchange messages when one of us has a big win. In some way, he will still always be my player and feels like he will always be my player, so you want him to succeed.

"This contact [between us] never fully stopped and it’s nice to see him because he’s always on for a hug and it’s nice to see him laugh."

Chelsea return to action on Saturday afternoon against Leicester City, who they are currently negotiating with for defender Wesley Fofana.