Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel opens up on his role in Saul Niguez transfer decision

Tuchel slams poor first half from Chelsea in win at Watford

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Thomas Tuchel has insisted it was his decision to sign Saul Niguez on loan in the summer amid the Spaniard’s early struggles at Chelsea. Recent reports in Spain suggested Saul’s deadline-day arrival was unplanned and was made to satisfy his representatives.

Saul has been hugely disappointing since moving from Atletico Madrid on a season-long loan in the summer and has rarely been played by Tuchel.

With N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic injured and Jorginho unfit to start at Watford on Wednesday, Saul got a rare chance as he lined up alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek in midfield.

But despite Tuchel’s side winning 2-1 at Vicarage Road, Saul’s dismal showing left fans baffled as he was dragged off for Thiago Silva at half-time.

The 27-year-old has made just three Premier League appearances since his arrival, which Cadena SER claim Chelsea sanctioned as a favour to his representatives.

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But Tuchel has shut down such reports, claiming Chelsea signed Saul to add quality to his squad.

He told reporters: “A club signing? No, we don’t do this. Until now, we don’t do club signings and coach’s signings.

“We do signings because we decide together because we believe it’s a good pick and a good addition to the squad, and this was exactly the case.

“I think every single player needs his time to adapt, and Saul needed his time. He competes with a lot of high-quality players in midfield.”

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However, Tuchel provided a damning verdict on Saul after his Watford performance, admitting he doesn’t know ‘where he goes’ from here.

“I don’t know where he goes from this performance, but he was on a yellow card, so we had two options,” he added.

“We could have taken Marcos [Alonso] off, who also had a yellow card, and tried Saul as a wing-back.

“I had this in my mind before the game if something happened to Marcos.

“But I thought maybe it was not the right match to try things with new positions, so it was [subbing] him to change the shape a little bit and have Thiago on the pitch with his organising.”

With Kovacic and Kante still out and Jorginho a doubt, Saul could have another chance to impress in Saturday’s trip to West Ham United.

Tuchel’s side travel to the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon, looking to apply pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool and Man City face another away test themselves at Wolves and Watford, respectively, later in the day.

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