Thomas Tuchel will ‘fall in love’ with new Chelsea squad after key departures

Thomas Tuchel has insisted he will put a competitive Chelsea team on the pitch next season irrespective of the Blues’ constraints over the club’s sale.

Toni Rudiger will leave Chelsea this summer, with Real Madrid poised to confirm the Germany defender’s switch.

The 29-year-old will quit Stamford Bridge on a free transfer alongside fellow defender Andreas Christensen, who is on the move to Barcelona.

Chelsea have lost clear ground on their rivals over recruitment for next season, but still hope to pull off deals for the likes of long-term target Sevilla defender Jules Kounde.

The Blues need two centre-backs for next term and ideally a talismanic leader to replace Rudiger, with Tuchel refusing to pull any punches on the impact of the 50-cap Germany star’s departure.

But asked if he will field a competitive team next term whatever happens this summer, Tuchel replied: “Yes, yeah. And it’s my job, and in the end it’s my job.

“No matter how the situation will be solved and when it will be solved, and how things will be settled in the end, and how active we can be on the transfer market.

“Can we react, and in which frame we can react, at the end we will dig in and we will try to squeeze out everything of the squad that we have.

“And hopefully, and I know myself, I will again fall in love with a squad that I have then, and try to push the squad to the limit.

“It has been a pleasure every single day with Toni, and I’m a bit concerned that we talk too much in the past about it.

“Because there are still things we have not reached all our goals for the season, so there are still things to achieve, big things, and he is still a big part of this club and we demand still 100 per cent of him.

“And this is where the focus is, and from