Where are they now? The 11 signings Thomas Tuchel made as Chelsea boss
Chelsea fans will forever be thankful to Thomas Tuchel after the German boss masterminded their 2020–21 Champions League winning campaign – but what are the 11 Chelsea signings he made up to these days?
In total, Tuchel oversaw 100 matches as Chelsea boss and he boasted a win percentage of 60 per cent during that time. Tuchel guided Chelsea to two consecutive top-four finishes and was perhaps harshly dismissed following a slow start to the 2022-23 campaign.
We’ve gone back through Tuchel’s time at Chelsea and have checked out where the 11 signings he made are today.
Marcus Bettinelli
The experienced Championship goalkeeper joined Chelsea in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer and thus became Tuchel’s first signing at Stamford Bridge.
Bettinelli was only signed to be a squad player and has made just one senior appearance making the switch to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea clearly value his input behind the scenes though as he penned a new deal until the summer of 2026 earlier in the year.
Romelu Lukaku
Upon his return to Chelsea, plenty of pundits and fans alike thought that Lukaku would be the difference for Chelsea in a potential title challenge. While things started out fairly bright for the Belgian, his situation promptly turned sour.
Just a few months after signing for £97.5million, Lukaku gave a controversial interview to Sky Italia where he fired several shots at Tuchel. Understandably so, this didn’t go down very well at Chelsea.
The relationship between Tuchel and Lukaku never really recovered from that point and he’s since spent the last few years out on loan. He’s currently doing the business for Jose Mourinho’s Roma where he has 11 goals in 18 appearances.
READ: Ranking Jose Mourinho’s most loyal soldiers: Lukaku, Mata, Essien…
Saul Niguez
Following a fairly forgettable loan spell with Chelsea, the Spanish midfielder returned to Atletico Madrid where he still plays today. The 29-year-old has been in and out of the starting XI under Diego Simeone and is now just two appearances shy of 400 games for the Spanish club.
Raheem Sterling
Chelsea fans were excited to see what Sterling would bring to the club upon his arrival from Manchester City in 2022. While the England international finished his debut season as Chelsea’s joint-top scorer, he’s not quite hit the heights that were first expected.
Of course, Sterling has produced some memorable moments since making the £47.5million switch, but his goalscoring numbers have tailed off fairly dramatically when compared to his City days.
Given his contract with Chelsea runs until the summer of 2027, he’s still got time to prove his worth in the capital.
Kalidou Koulibaly
A pretty disastrous signing. Koulibaly arrived with a huge reputation from Napoli, but the Senegalese defender often looked like a shadow of his former self while donning a Chelsea top.
Following a below-par debut season, Chelsea cut their losses with Koulibaly in the summer and offloaded him to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal.
The 32-year-old is now one of the highest-earning defenders in world football and Al-Hilal are currently on track to win the league which would be the first league title of Koulibaly’s career.
Gabriel Slonina
Tuchel was the man in charge when Chelsea snapped up the young United States goalkeeper Slonina. The 19-year-old is regarded as one for the future and it could be quite some time until we see him in a Chelsea XI.
Slonina spent a portion of last season back on loan with Chicago Fire and the teenager has since been loaned out to Belgian side Eupen for the season.
Carney Chukwuemeka
The attacking midfielder penned a six-year deal with Chelsea in the summer of 2022. Since joining the club he has shown some glimpses of quality, although his opportunities have been somewhat limited.
In total, the 20-year-old has only played 473 minutes of Premier League football and he has missed the majority of the season so far with a knee injury. Fingers crossed there’s still more to come from Chukwuemeka.
Marc Cucurella
Chelsea thought they’d got one over on Manchester City when they won the race for Cucurella, but it was probably City who had the last laugh.
The expectations were high after the Spanish left-back arrived for a £55million fee. After all, he had looked like one of the best full-backs in the league during his Brighton days.
To be fair to Cucurella, he has looked a bit better this season under Mauricio Pochettino, although there’s no hiding from the fact that his debut season was massively below par.
Wesley Fofana
Tuchel’s second most expensive signing as Chelsea boss and he’s hardly kicked a ball since making the £70million move. Fofana has had some rotten luck with injuries over the years and it’s a real shame he’s not been able to showcase his talents in a Chelsea shirt yet.
The French defender was sidelined for the majority of last season with a knee injury and he could miss the entire 2023-24 season after undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery. Fingers crossed he manages to come back stronger.
Denis Zakaria
While Zakaria arrived under Tuchel, he never actually made an appearance under the German boss. In fact, the Swiss midfielder didn’t get many opportunities at Chelsea throughout his entire loan spell.
The midfielder only managed to earn 413 minutes of Premier League football and it was no real surprise when Chelsea opted against signing him on a permanent basis at the end of the season. Instead, Zakaria joined Monaco in the summer.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Tuchel’s reunion with Aubameyang ended up being incredibly short-lived. The German boss was dismissed just five days after the striker had joined the club and it wasn’t long until Aubameyang was looking for the exit door.
After spending the majority of the season sulking from the sidelines, he departed in the summer and has since rekindled his goalscoring touch with Marseille. The 34-year-old has 12 goals in 21 appearances for the French club and looks reborn in his new surroundings.
Meanwhile Aubameyang’s scoring and winning in Marseille. Not sure it was the best choice to ship him. Not sure at all.
pic.twitter.com/mxrWzDLZRf— Blaugranagram (@Blaugranagram) December 10, 2023
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