Saul Niguez has found minutes hard to come by after falling out of favour under Thomas Tuchel and now it appears the German boss didn’t even want to sign him in the first place
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Thomas Tuchel didn’t want midfield flop Saul Niguez at Chelsea and reportedly only signed him as a ‘favour’.
The Blues agreed a deal with Atletico Madrid to bring the Spaniard to Stamford Bridge on loan with an option to buy on deadline day in the summer.
However, the 26-year-old has rarely featured under Tuchel having only appeared twice in the Premier League, with his solitary start coming in the 3-0 triumph over Aston Villa on September 11.
Saul looked out of sorts as he made his debut that day and found himself caught on the ball and dispossessed on several occasions before being hooked by Tuchel at half time.
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It now appears as though Chelsea’s German boss wasn’t keen on bringing the Spanish midfielder to the Premier League in the first place.
According to Cadena SER, Tuchel didn’t ask to sign Saul in the summer and the on-loan Atleti man wasn’t one of the London club’s transfer targets.
In fact, reports in Spain suggest Chelsea only signed the midfielder as a ‘favour’ to his representatives.
The Blues paid Atletico £4million for Saul’s services this season and, if he impresses, could make the transfer permanent for £30m next summer.
However, reports from his homeland suggest Saul could even see his loan stint in London cut short with Chelsea believed to be considering terminating the deal early, in January.
Saul has found himself out of favour under Tuchel having seen the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley force themselves into favour within an already packed midfield.
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Despite Chelsea competing on all fronts this season, Saul has only mustered five appearances in blue as Tuchel has often deployed N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in the centre of the park.
The Spaniard last featured in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup victory over Southampton at the end of October, playing all 90 minutes before the Blues eventually progressed on penalties.
After the match, Tuchel expressed his encouragement at Saul’s performance having initially held concerns over how the midfielder would cope with the intensity of the game.
“Was a good match, a huge step in the right direction for him. I am happy,’ the Chelsea manager revealed. “We thought maybe he would be struggling with the intensity at the 70th minute but he got better and better, had chances and shots.”
“We thought let’s keep him and give him the minutes. It was a good step for him.”
The German coach had previously admitted to hesitating when considering using Saul in a match in early October with the Spaniard clearly yet to earn Tuchel’s trust.
Saul will be hoping to be given another chance to impress in the coming week as he fights for his Chelsea future.
The Blues head to Leicester on Saturday lunch time as Premier League football returns following the recent international break before Tuchel’s men host Italian giants Juventus in the Champions League next week.