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Thomas Tuchel says he could feel Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell Chelsea coming and isn’t afraid to remain at Stamford Bridge without the Russian as owner.
It was on Wednesday evening that Abramovich released a statement on Chelsea’s website which confirmed his intention to sell.
The 55-year-old said he felt it was in the club’s best interests and revealed he would not be seeking any repayment on loans he has given Chelsea – which are in excess of £1.5billion.
That statement came just days after Abramovich had attempted to hand the “stewardship and care” of the club over to trustees of its charitable foundation.
That move was designed to put distance between Abramovich and Chelsea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has since been abandoned.
And it’s the uncertainy that enveloped Chelsea ahead of Abramovich’s statement on Wednesday that meant Tuchel wasn’t hugely surprised when he discovered the club would be sold.
“I knew a little bit before because I am of course in a direct line of communication with Petr (Cech) and Marina (Granovskaia) so I knew about it before,” Tuchel said. “It was more of a process of knowing than this one moment.
“It was a process of messages, a process of talks. It’s not like we had two weeks of nothing and then suddenly was told ok it will be sold. I could feel it coming. I could feel the possibility.”
The Chelsea head coach continued: “I don’t know even if this quite makes sense but the club is not selling the club, the owner is selling the club. And he’s selling a well structured, top-organised organisation.
“Right now, I don’t see why we should be in fear and concern about what is obviously so well-placed, so well organised, and so functional. It is and it’s a pleasure to work here. I can honestly say that this is the highest level that I have experienced [as a coach].
“So yes, we will have a new owner but does that mean the organisation is in question or the structure? I don’t think so is a given. Maybe it is and if it is we need to talk about it again, but why to think about it right now? It makes no sense.”
Tuchel confirmed this afternoon he has not spoken to Abramovich since the owner’s statement was released on Wednesday. That is not abnormal given it is Granovskaia who has overseen the day-to-day running of Chelsea for several years.
What Tuchel has done is prepare his side for tomorrow’s Premier League trip to Burnley. And as a result, he hasn’t had a great deal of time to figure out how exactly how feels about Abramovich’s expected departure.
“It’s strange, we didn’t see this happening for a very long time,” Tuchel said. “Chelsea was always a Roman Abramovich club from my point of view, and was run by a compassionate and committed owner who took to a sport that we all love, football, so seriously.
“This is so new and such a big change that I’m not even sure how I feel about it. I’m very happy to come here actually to work, because on a daily basis, once we are in the building there is not a big change, because the owner was not here for lunch and not here for meetings, not here for training so this does actually at the moment look very normal. It gives everybody a good feeling.
“And to figure out how I actually feel about it – in general I’m not a very scared person. In general I don’t worry too long, too much. And I try to adapt to the needs of the situation.”