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Thomas Tuchel hopes his own future remains at Chelsea despite the ongoing uncertainty about their ownership situation – but he cannot make predictions about transfers and contracts.

Roman Abramovich has put Chelsea up for sale in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The long-reigning owner has vowed that his decision is in the best interests of the club and manager Tuchel has already agreed.

But until the club does change hands – which would be in doubt if Abramovich faces sanctions from the UK government – there will be many doubts about their sporting matters.

One area that Tuchel hopes will not be affected is his own position as head coach, which he has held since January 2021.

At the Tuchel press conference on Friday, the Blues boss said: “I have the opposite of a problem of staying here. I love working in the Premier League and in England and feel the tradition and love for sport. It is an amazing place to be.

“Chelsea, from my point of view, is the perfect fit and I love to be here and everything about the club. Hopefully, it continues.

“There is an uncertainty but isn’t it always as a football manager? So I am trained to live with it at different levels and this is quite the level, I have to be honest. But I am positive and I hope things will end well.”

However, the German coach is aware that he will be unable to plan any transfer business at this point.

He said: “There have been no talks for the summer. It is simply too early.

“We’re in a good place at the moment. I feel the team growing and getting better and better. So no worries on this case until the summer. There is a long way to go.”

Also on the agenda for Chelsea off the pitch are a number of contract situations. Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger are all in the final few months of their deals and could leave.

But Tuchel knows the situation is out of his hands and cannot judge the implications of external factors.

He replied: “We can’t help it. It is what it is. But maybe it has a positive effect on negotiations or maybe a negative effect. We can’t predict.

“Still I think Chelsea is a strong club and will stay a strong club. Our owner has decided to sell the club but he is selling a strong and organised club at the highest level.”

Tuchel press conference provides team news for Burnley v Chelsea

Chelsea will have to focus on on-field matters when they return to action against Burnley on Saturday. After seeing off Luton in the FA Cup in midweek, their attention is now back on the Premier League.

Providing some team news, Tuchel revealed: “No fresh injuries but I have to talk to the fitness coaches and doctors.

“Azpi wasn’t training yesterday so this will be too close. Hakim [Ziyech] was in training, hopefully he can come back. Reece [James] did training yesterday and no reactions after his two matches.

“The guys who were not with us at Luton because of minor injuries, Thiago [Silva] and Trevoh [Chalobah], were back in training and seem good to go.”

In the absence of the defensive duo, Tuchel dropped midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek into the middle of the back three against Luton.  He was impressed by the application of the former England international.

Tuchel opined: “He did well. We were very open before the match, told everybody we had players in some positions they did not prefer, but we needed them right now and it was important for them to step up and not be angry about the last weeks.

“It was the moment to show true team spirit and give the best in an unfamiliar positions. They did.”

READ MORE: Barcelona wreaking havoc with two Chelsea deals close; Arsenal, Tottenham target to follow

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