Here is your Chelsea morning digest for Saturday, February 6.
Chelsea confirm Premier League squad
Chelsea have submitted their Premier League squad for the rest of the season.
And there are no real surprises as far as the revised Chelsea squad goes, with Thomas Tuchel inheriting a strong squad which more or less picks itself when it comes to the Premier League list, though they have only named 20 senior players.
Once again, Chelsea have named technical and performance advisor Petr Cech in their squad despite having three goalkeepers with Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero.
Even out-of-favour left-back Emerson Palmieri gets a place in the squad with Fikayo Tomori the only player excluded following his loan exit to AC Milan last month.
As part of the rules, clubs can only name 17 players who are not counted as homegrown, i.e, did not come through an English or Welsh club's academy.
The remaining eight spaces must all be filled by homegrown players, and in Chelsea's case, that includes Tammy Abraham, Ben Chilwell and Andreas Christensen.
The Blues have only named three homegrown players because they still only have 17 senior players who don't fall under that category with Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James all eligible to be named on the young player list.
Tuchel could land long-term target
Chelsea have been linked with a move for Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng ahead of this summer.
The 32-year-old is out of contract after this season and could be an option for Chelsea, according to Bild, as they look to strengthen their back-line having chopped and changed when it comes to deciding on Thiago Silva's centre-back partner.
Boateng could be on the lookout for a new club this season with no contract extension agreed just yet and with time slowly ticking away.
The World Cup winner has been a constant for the German giants during his time at the club and he is one of a number of players out of contract this summer.
David Alaba, who has also been linked with Chelsea, is another who is set to leave, though the Austrian was offered a new contract, rejecting the offer in a bid to land a new challenge.
Boateng's situation appears to be a little different with no contract offer reported, and should he depart, Chelsea could be interested with head coach Thomas Tuchel a clear fan.
Tuchel is said to have attempted to sign the centre-back twice during his time with PSG, though he ultimately failed to lure him to the French capital.
Kovacic impressed by Tuchel
Mateo Kovacic appears to be impressed by the impact Tuchel has had at Chelsea
“I think we’ve improved a lot in the last three games, we’ve got seven points," he told the club website after Chelsea's win over Tottenham on Thursday. "But we need to go game by game and try to be as up as possible and I think we can do it.
“I think we have little problems – we didn’t score against Burnley as well. In the last 15 minutes we were 1-0 up and it could be even more.
“This is a thing we need to improve, to finish games. I think this is one thing we will work a lot on.
“He [Tuchel] explained to us what he wants. It’s exactly that – to play fast forward, to create chances, to be in the opposition’s half.
“I think we’ve improved a lot in the last three games but I think we can be even better & be even more confident.
“In the games coming, we will be even better and we need to even better because we can do it.”
