“He can’t demand that we rely on him” – Thomas Tuchel offers opinion on Chelsea midfielder
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Ross Barkley will not be playing much this season. The English midfielder has not been in the manager's plans, but he failed to find a club in the summer.
Ross Barkley was out on loan at Aston Villa last season and this summer, he was looking to find another club. However, he failed to agree terms with anyone and stayed at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have a jam-packed squad but have included Ross Barkley in their Premier League squad. But Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will not be relying much on the former Everton man. Ahead of the game against Aston Villa, he said:
"He can't demand that we rely on him as the top midfielder this season. He does not demand that. It's hard to see people struggling, and struggling with the situation. But he tried to go on loan again, to find a club, but it is not easy. The situation out there, the financial impact from corona to clubs abroad and clubs also within the country is huge. It's not easy to find clubs who are able to invest. But the quality that Ross brings to the pitch could help a lot of clubs in Europe."
Chelsea failed to sell Ross Barkley to West Brom in on Deadline Day
Chelsea reportedly tried to sell Ross Barkley to West Bromwich Albion in the summer. However, the midfielder's £110k a week demands put the Baggies off, and they decided not to sign him.
Thomas Tuchel offered some advice to the Chelsea midfielder and said:
"He is also asking himself the same questions and maybe all of us here, to be honest, don't have the answers. I'm sure that he worries a lot about the situation: 'How can it come so far that right now I'm in between the chairs and don't really know where I belong?"
"I don't have these answers because I don't know him long enough. All the advice I can give to Ross right now and what I did say was: 'Stay humble, get it off your shoulders, all the opinions, all the expectations from everybody, all the past, what could have been, if I did this, if I did that."
Chelsea won their game against Ross Barkley's loan side from last season, Aston Villa, today. A goal from Kovacic and a brace from Lukaku were enough to help Chelsea run out 3-0 winners at Stamford Bridge.