Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea? No contact over January move for Barcelona contract rebel, insists Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel insists he never held talks with Ousmane Dembele over a January transfer to Chelsea – and is convinced Kenedy can fill the void left by the injured Ben Chilwell.

Chelsea were aware of Dembele’s availability from Barcelona last month and have monitored his situation at the Camp Nou, with Tuchel a long-time admirer.

But the European champions’ priority in January was to cover the absence of Chilwell, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with anterior cruciate ligament damage.

A move for Dembele could yet come in the summer when the France international is out of contract, but Tuchel is adamant a deal was never going to happen mid-season.

He said: “We were open for things, I did not have contact with Ousmane. So there was no contact between us.”

Tuchel had warned that Chelsea’s season could be wrecked if they failed to cover Chilwell, while he also explored the possibility of bringing someone in to cope with the absence of Reece James, who has been out since December with a hamstring injury.

Attempts to recall Emerson Palmieri from his loan at Lyon failed, but Chelsea did manage to bring Kenedy back from his loan deal at Flamengo. Tuchel believes the Brazilian will be ideal cover for Chilwell.

“If you play with a wing-back it is a perfect role for him, considering his profile as a player,” he said. “He has a strong left foot and is very strong in positional play.

“He can shoot and cross very precisely. And that’s more or less it. He is very talented. There was never a doubt about this and now it is having the right mentality and mindset to take this huge opportunity whenever the next step is needed.

“He will fight for his place and the others will hopefully take on the fight to not let him take