Tuchel wants to give Loftus-Cheek a chance at Chelsea

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has indicated that he wants to assess Ruben Loftus-Cheek himself before a decision is made on the midfielder’s future.

Loftus-Cheek is on loan at neighbours Fulham are there are doubts over whether he has any chance of featuring under Tuchel next season.

But Tuchel insisted: “It’s not decided yet.”

Speaking at a press conference, the German added: “I was quite a fan of him when he was even younger – he is still young.

“He reminded me a little bit in his style of play and his movements of Michael Ballack.

“We were well aware of his talent. I don’t know why things did not work out maybe like he wished and everybody wished.

“But he is on loan now and is doing good, leaving his footprints there.

“It’s absolutely unfair if I judge him from hearsay. Normally I love to work with players and give my opinion – maybe pretty quickly, but from direct impression.

“I don’t know what his idea is. I don’t know exactly what my opinion is and what the club’s opinion is. There’s no decision made yet.”

Meanwhile, Tuchel has told Andreas Christensen to focus on his performances rather than the possibility of a new contract.

It comes after the Dane suggested that he wants to commit his future to Chelsea by agreeing a new deal.

Tuchel said: “It’s best if he talks on the pitch. As long as Andreas is on the pitch and as long as he plays like he has then he has all rights to be here.

“I think he is happy to be here. I am happy he is here. I will not get involved in any other situations about talks and negotiations.

“I think he speaks for himself on the pitch and this is the most important thing. This is not the moment to get involved in any other issues.”