64 Thursday April 28 2022 | the times
SportFootball
Thomas Tuchel has admitted that
Chelsea are behind schedule with their
summer transfer plans and warned of a
“very demanding” window because of
the sanctions placed on their owner,
Roman Abramovich.
Tuchel, 48, believes that Chelsea’s
squad needs “cosmetic surgery” in the
summer — a reference to his former
mentor Ralf Rangnick’s claim that
tonight’s opponents, Manchester
United, require open heart surgery —
as the defenders Antonio Rüdiger and
Andreas Christensen prepare to leave
on free transfers.
Chelsea are unable to source replace-
ments or make deals until their takeover
is complete and a new owner is in place.
Tuchel said this process would have
begun by now in normal circumstances.
“We would have some targets and we
would have, for sure, contacted some
players and found out about their
situations,” the Chelsea head coach
said. “Now our hands are tied, we can
still have the talks inside the building,
but we cannot act. The situation is not
ideal. It would be challenging enough
with a stable situation. We don’t have
that, so everybody is doing it, at least I
know, for the first time.
“There is still faith in the people who
take care of it from our side, and still
faith in that everybody is on it, and that
we finish it as fast as possible. We try to
be prepared behind the scenes so that,
if we get a green light to act, we are
ready and share our views on the team.
At the moment it is very difficult to
predict what is going to happen.”
Tuchel is aiming to replace at least
Rüdiger and Christensen, who will join
Real Madrid and Barcelona respective-
ly when their contracts expire. The
German coach is keen on adding a mid-
fielder and is a big admirer of Declan
Rice, although he is unlikely to leave
West Ham United in the summer.
Tuchel has worked closely with
Marina Granovskaia, the Chelsea
director, as well as the performance
Who will qualify for Europe?
P WD L FA GDPts
Man City............33 25 5 3 80 21 59 80
Liverpool...........33 24 7 2 85 22 63 79
Chelsea..............32 19 8 5 67 27 40 65
Arsenal...............33 19 3 11 52 40 12 60
Tottenham........33 184 11 56 38 18 58
Man Utd.............34 15 9 10 53 51 2 54
West Ham.........34 15 7 12 52 44 8 52
Wolves................33 154 14 33 29 4 49
6 Top four will reach Champions League
6 Five teams qualify if West Ham win
Europa League and miss out on top four
6 Fifth and sixth are earmarked for the
Europa League (EL); seventh will enter
Europa Conference League (ECL)
6 Leicester reach EL if they win the ECL
6 Only seven teams can reach Europe
unless West Ham and/or Leicester win a
trophy and finish outside top seven
6 If West Ham or Leicester win a trophy
and finish seventh, England will have no
ECL entrants next seasonSanctions have
hit our transfer
plan, says Tuchel
Tom Roddy
and technical adviser, Petr Cech, in
identifying transfer targets and
securing deals, but the structure of
the club hierarchy remains unclear
until a preferred bidder is confirmed.
“We are not concerned but aware of
the danger that the situation is maybe a
bit more complex,” Tuchel said. “It can
be complex enough if you lose a player
like Toni, and maybe lose another
player like Andreas with the kind of
quality, and both of them for free.
“I don’t know if ‘surgery’ is the right
term but I just want to be positive about
it and stick to the things we can
influence.”
Tuchel also moved to reassure any
members of his squad who are worried
that he could leave the club, as reported
by The Times yesterday, by committing
himself to being at Stamford Bridge
next term.
“Next season life will go on if we like
it or not, if we are happy about it or not,”
he said. “From pre-season we will give
our very best and I will be fully
involved with all my heart and all my
knowledge, for sure.”Ferguson: No one in control at United
Sir Alex Ferguson has lamented
Manchester United’s shambolic record
in recent weeks, saying that “someone
needs to get in control” of the club.
Ferguson, who was interviewed by an
Irish racing broadcaster while watching
his horse at the Punchestown Festival
yesterday, welcomed the appointment
of Erik ten Hag, who will take over as
manager in the summer.
But Ferguson hinted at the scale of
the task facing the Dutchman when he
said: “I hope he does well [Ten Hag],
because the club needs someone to get
in control.” Paul Scholes, one of Fergus-
on’s most trusted players, said last week
he had been told by Jesse Lingard, the
United winger, that the dressing room
was a “disaster”.
Ralf Rangnick has failed to have an
impact during his tenure as United
interim manager and has warned hisunderperforming players that they are
auditioning for Ten Hag over the final
four games of the season, starting with
tonight’s match against Chelsea.
The German admitted that Ten Hag,
who will take over in the summer,
may benefit from a continued
slump and United not qual-
ifying for next season’s
European competitions,
enabling him to focus on
the Premier League. But
Rangnick, who has still
to discuss his consultan-
cy role for next season
with Ten Hag, is adamant
that there is no suggestion
of his players “tanking”.
“It could be an advantage [not
qualifying for Europe] but that does not
mean we will give away any of the
remaining four games,” he said. “Obvi-
ously, if results are not going well and
we lost three of the last four games, itmeans the morale, the energy in the
locker room isn’t as good as it would be,
but still we have to perform, this is what
we’re getting paid for. It’s important for
players to know who the new manager
will be, to show him in front of
75,000 people that we are able
to beat a team like Chelsea.”
Rangnick only has 14
senior outfield players
available tonight. The
teenage defender Álva-
ro Fernández could be
the latest youngster to
be added to a squad that
includes Hannibal Mejbri
and Alejandro Garnacho.
Manchester United (possible, 4–2-3-1):
D De Gea — D Dalot, R Varane, V Lindelof,
A Telles — S McTominay, N Matic — M Rashford,
B Fernandes, A Elanga — C Ronaldo.
Chelsea (possible, 3-4-1-2): É Mendy —
C Azpilicueta, T Silva, M Sarr — R Loftus-Cheek,
N Kanté, Jorginho, M Alonso — M Mount
— T Werner, K Havertz.Ian WhittellManchester
United v Chelsea
Premier League
Kick-off: 7.45pm
TV: Sky Sports
Main EventHANNIBAL MEJBRIÁLVARO FERNÁNDEZALEJANDRO GARNACHOMIDFIELDER, 19WINGER, 17LEFT BACK, 19Three youngsters
who could play