Thomas Tuchel insists Chelsea will not rush to make signings in the January transfer window despite acknowledging he is "running out of options" in defence and at wing-back.
Injuries and illnesses suffered over the past six weeks have left Chelsea's first-team squad depleted. And that is not going to change any time soon with Ben Chilwell ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery and Reece James expected to miss at least another month with a hamstring issue.
Trevoh Chalobah is also currently sidelined with a hamstring issue while Andreas Christensen has spent much of the past four weeks on the treatment table with a back problem. Thiago Silva, meanwhile, is currently in self-isolation having tested positive for Covid.
Those absences meant that in midweek, Tuchel had to abandon his favoured 3-4-2-1 shape in favour of a 4-4-2-2. "For a back five, you need three and two wing-backs. We simply did not have the players," the German admitted today at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Blues' FA Cup third round tie against Chesterfield.
Chelsea are attempting to change, football.london understands discussions have been held with French side Lyon in an attempt to cut short Emerson Palmieri's loan spell and bring the Italian international back to Stamford Bridge.
That would be Tuchel's preferred option but the Blues are also keeping tabs on Lucas Digne's situation at Everton while Barcelona's Sergino Dest is another potential addition.
Chelsea's only current fit wing-backs are Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso. And while Tuchel accepts his choices are limited in the wide positions no matter the system the Blues play, he is also adamant that signings shouldn't be made, especially as Azpilicueta is capable of filling in down the right as needed.
"We talk about only one player who suits [different systems] which is Azpi. If we play in a back five, it is Azpi who replaces Reece James. If we play a back four and we may need a bit more of defensive full-back, a bit of a different characteristic to protect the defensive players, it is also Azpi.
"Maybe it is Trevoh Chalobah but Trevoh is out with injury. So we are running out of options. If you talk about Christian Pulisic or Callum Hudson-Odoi, for sure they can only play at wing-back, it is only fair to them.
"It’s not like their preferred position and they cannot show their full potential if they play there, but they can for sure not play full-back. So you lose options, you lose options not only in personnel but in tactics and formation.
"But I will not comment in more on detail in the market. We check our options and in the end, it needs to make sense. It is not only pure numbers to bring in players.
"It needs to be a good mix of high quality, high-level attitude and character. Then it needs to be possible.
"It seems like everybody would love to have it. If we had a full squad I would love to answer this question and say we need nothing. But we have the issue and that’s why we look into it."
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