THOMAS Tuchel says Chelsea have “no chance” of winning the Premier League without more top signings like Raheem Sterling.
The England international finally put his name on the dotted line this week as Chelsea made their first signing of the summer.
Chelsea will be hoping Raheem Sterling adds some much-needed cutting edge to their attackCredit: GettyThomas Tuchel wants more big names before Chelsea kick off the season at Everton next monthCredit: Getty
But they have been linked to several other stars from across Europe as they seek reinforcements up front and in defence.
The sanctions levelled at the Roman Abramovich regime left the Blues on the back foot going into the window, and they’ve already lost some high-profile stars.
But now Tuchel said he wants to hit back with big signings to challenge Manchester City and Liverpool.
He told Sky Sports: “The stakes are high and we’re competing not only against the best teams who have ever played in the Premier League but also the best coaches.
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“We come from sanctions, we come from losing top-quality players, key players, we are a club in transition, in transition of ownership, we were behind in the transfer race and we were behind in the table. So we have things to improve.
“The signing of Raheem shows what we’re capable of doing, it shows the ambition of the club and the ownership and it’s good because we’re all here to win and compete.
“We love to compete and we love the challenge at the very top. For that we need signings of new quality players or otherwise there’s no chance.”
The West London team have seen huge players depart this window, including Antonio Rudiger heading to Real Madrid.
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Romelu Lukaku has also returned to Inter Milan after enduring a difficult first season at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel said the secret to building back up was in drafting in reinforcements and giving youth a chance.
He added: “It’s no secret we lost top players and we need to replace them. Even if they’d have stayed, we needed improvement to close the gap so we need now even more.
“We have top players and even more importantly we have a top team. But if we bring players in we need top quality with top character and then you’re talking about the very, very best who play this game.
“What we’ll never forget is the mixture because what makes Chelsea special is the amount of academy players and we’ll never hesitate to give responsibility to them and push them because the mixture of it makes it special and exciting for me to be coach and part of it and this is the way to follow.”
The club appear very close to securing the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly as they seek to mend their defence.
They are also reportedly in the market for PSG’s Presnel Kimpembe but may have to cough up £42m to land him.
Up front, and Chelsea are also being linked to Serge Gnabry as his contract runs down at Bayern Munich.
