Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea “focused on top target” rather than chasing Cristiano Ronaldo | OneFootball

Chelsea were linked with a move for Cristiano Ronaldo this summer after Todd Boehly met with the attacker’s agent Jorge Mendes.

It never felt too likely that the Blues would sign the superstar, despite the tempting headlines it would generate for the new ownership.

He’s just too old, too famous and too expensive to be a natural fit for the side Thomas Tuchel is building. When asked about it in his press conference in LA last night though, Tuchel was more diplomatic about his reasoning.

“He is a fantastic player for another fantastic club in the Premier League. Out of respect, we don’t comment on these players because we don’t like other coaches to speak about our players,” Tuchel said in quotes picked up by the Manchester Evening News.

“This is where this has to stay. We focused on our top target – Raheem Sterling – which we could sign and everything else stays behind closed doors.”

He’s being polite really – despite Ronaldo’s amazing goalscoring ability, it was obvious that signing him would be a backwards step, just as it was for Manchester United.

We’re much better off with the younger, hungrier Sterling and all he brings to the team, rather than another petulant immobile number 9, just after we got rid of our last one.