Thomas Tuchel dodges Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang question and rates Arsenal and Man Utd’s transfer windows

Thomas Tuchel has refused to comment on speculation linking Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a move to Chelsea.

The Blues have been linked with a number of centre-forwards following the loan exit of Romelu Lukaku earlier this summer.

Robert Lewandowski was one of those names, but the Poland international ended up making the switch to Barcelona from Bayern Munich.

With the prolific Lewandowski now in the squad, former Arsenal striker Aubameyang’s playing time could be threatened.

Aubameyang only left the Gunners in early February to join Barca, but reports have claimed Chelsea have made a move to sign him.

The 33-year-old worked under Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund and scored plenty of goals for the Bundesliga club.

During a press conference on Friday, Tuchel dodged a question about Aubameyang – although he did jokingly admit he would like the 79 goals the striker scored for him at Dortmund.

When the Aubameyang rumours and the player’s record of 79 goals under him in Germany were put to the Blues boss, he said: ‘I would be interested in the 79 goals actually (laughs).

‘We will not comment further.

‘There are a lot of names out there, sometimes it’s due to the fact that we discuss a lot of names and sometimes it’s pure speculation and we will not get involved.’

Chelsea will be hoping to start the new season strongly when they face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.

There looks set to be plenty of competition at the top end of the table once again with Chelsea’s rivals Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United all strengthening their squads in the summer.

Tuchel conceded that his side’s rivals have shown the ambition to get them closer to Manchester City at Liverpool.

‘Tottenham and Arsenal showed in pre-season and the transfer market – Man United too – what their ambition is, that they have a clear target to catch us and to get closer to the top two teams.

‘We’re in the middle of it and it doesn’t help if we break our heads thinking about it.

‘We will have a very competitive team, I am happy with the players that came and made the squad stronger. This is where the focus is.

‘The players came late, there are still players to come in. So it is a kind of disadvantage but we have the guys we have and we will push them to the limit.’

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