Thomas Tuchel speaks out on decision to reject chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo

Thomas Tuchel hinted Chelsea considered the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, but were unwilling to switch their focus from from recruiting No.1 target Raheem Sterling.

The England international’s arrival from Manchester City in a £47million deal was confirmed earlier this week and he is in line to make his non-competitive debut against Club America tomorrow.

Chelsea are, however, unlikely to make further additions to their forward line despite the departure of Romelu Lukaku and the shock availability of wantaway United star Ronaldo.

The 37-year-old is said to have been unimpressed by United’s work in the transfer market this summer and unwilling to lower himself to the ignominy of playing in the Europa League this season.

Chelsea’s new owner Todd Boehly is understood to have held talks with Roanldo’s long-time agent Jorge Mendes earlier this summer but after key talks between the American and Tuchel, the pair arrived at the decision to resist the temptation to launch a bid for the five-times Ballon d’Or winner.

Asked about Chelsea’s interest in Ronaldo, Tuchel told told reporters: ‘If we considered his name… well he’s a fantastic player he is a fantastic player for another fantastic club in our competition 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. This is where this has to stay.

‘We focused on our top target Raheem Sterling who we signed and everything else stays behind closed doors.’

Tomorrow’s friendly, meanwhile, may come too early for Sterling who is behind his teammates in his pre-season preparations but Tuchel is delighted to have a player of his calibre and reputation on board.

‘He is on an individual programme, he didn’t join the team because some of the team are two weeks ahead of him with training sessions, double training sessions, and there are intense training sessions ahead of him,’ said Tuchel.

‘It is not the moment that he joins full team training in every minute on the pitch. We will see what happens but it is pretty obvious what he delivers and that’s exactly what you see on the pitch.

‘I have a feeling that he is absolutely happy to be here. It’s a new chapter for him and I feel he is ready to fulfil this chapter in his career.

‘They are relaxed first days on an individual programme, which is pretty demanding but on a different level to the others. He will join the training from today (Friday) but he is not there yet.’

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