Super agent Jorge Mendes could try and offer Cristiano Ronaldo to Chelsea again. Recent developments on Timo Werner could prompt manager Thomas Tuchel to do a U-turn on his initial stance about the Portuguese star.
After Chelsea was thumped over the weekend at the hands of Premier League rivals Arsenal, not only has the transfer needs in defence been reaffirmed, but their business in attack is to be reviewed. Tuchel was angry with Timo Werner’s comments during the pre-season tour about potential exit comments amid RB Leipzig rumours. Still, an admission made after the 4-0 defeat could mean that action could be seen off the pitch very soon regarding recruiting more offensive-minded players.
“For sure. If you look at the first half, it was even hard to escape our half productively and to play in the opponent’s half positively and create chances – we had one chance with a shot [that hit the post],” Tuchel reasoned in his post-match press conference. “But the number of dangerous situations, the amount of one against ones, the number of accelerations in the second half, where we dominated the game and were the better team in the first 22 minutes, but with their first action they score, and we didn’t have too many dangerous situations [after that].
“Listen, it’s the same players, so why should anything change? We will see development hopefully, but at the moment, we have the same issues because we have the same players.”
The need to refresh and revamp the forward line could see the likes of Werner and others be granted their wish to leave for new ventures abroad, but who could come in to replace the outgoing forwards?
Ronaldo was a name that was hot on the agenda at one point of the transfer window, but just like with Neymar, Tuchel seems to have rejected the chance to sign the United star.
Atletico Madrid and others are circling for a player who still hasn’t joined up with the United squad for pre-season due to ‘family reasons’ and is expected to miss the start of the new Premier League season amid The Athletic’s fresh update. Chelsea now has a big decision to make – but is there any chance of a U-turn?
Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano brought this issue up on the latest Que Golazo podcast and revealed Mendes’ plans to try and change Tuchel’s mind.
He said: “We know they have been offered a chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s something that Jorge Mendes discussed with Chelsea, but Thomas Tuchel said no 10-15 days ago.
“He didn’t want to proceed on this opportunity, so I’m sure that Mendes will insist again with Chelsea, Bayern and Atletico Madrid until the end of the market, but at the moment, it is still like this.”
Romano then clarified that it’s difficult to ‘understand’ who the West London outfit may target in an attack before September 1 to join Raheem Sterling in a rebuild. But with Tuchel unlikely to reverse his Ronaldo decision, perhaps someone like Jarrod Bowen may come into the equation amid the latest reports indicating that the Blues boss is a massive fan of the West Ham forward.
