Chelsea Rumors: Tuchel Wants 'Unlucky' Attacking Midfielder To Stay Amid Interest From Clubs

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is being patient about one of his attacking midfielders.

This season hasn’t been smooth for Chelsea star Christian Pulisic. The former Borussia Dortmund attacker has only managed to score one goal and complete one assist to date compared to his nine and four last season.

As pressure seems to mount on Pulisic, famed European transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, who has been a credible source of English Premier League news, reported that “top clubs” are now keeping tabs on the 22-year-old.

“Christian Pulisic has always been respectful with Chelsea–great professional,” Romano tweeted. “There’s interest from top clubs in case he’ll leave, normal for this kind of talent. But Pulisic is still fighting for Chelsea and nothing will be decided before June.”

Injuries have been Pulisic’s biggest setback this season. However, Tuchel isn’t considering the American as a liability, having been involved in Chelsea’s 11-game winning streak since Frank Lampard’s departure.

According to Tuchel, Pulisic has only been “unlucky” in the past few games, but he is “patient” as he is well aware of what the player is capable of.

“I cannot say anything other than positive things about him [Pulisic],” Tuchel told ProSoccerTalk following Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Everton last week. “Maybe his problem is that I know from Dortmund how strong he is from the bench. I think he started only in the cup game, and in the end, that is my responsibility and my fault.”

“But like I said, it is a bit unfair but I know how good he is and what an impact he can have in 20-30 mins,” he continued. “He was unlucky in the last games. It is not a lack of trust or lack of quality. It is maybe just to be a bit patient.”

Further explaining Pulisic’s case, Tuchel even cited some similar scenarios in which players had to be left out because of his “bad decisions.”

“We have, for example, another guy which I would love to mention which is Emerson [Palmieri], who suffers from bad decisions against him from me, who does not play but is an amazing guy and trains at the highest level. Never lets the team down from his mentality,” the German pointed out.

“This was a super hard decision today to have him out of the squad,” he added. “The same with Tammy [Abraham]. It is like this and tells us we have a strong group and guys have to keep on fighting. There is no other way.”