Thomas Tuchel looks to have left the door open to a move that sees Chelsea finally sign Achraf Hakimi. The 23-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge last summer, but a deal failed to materialise.
The Blues lodged an official bid worth £56.1million for the Moroccan, as reported by Sky Sports, though he penned a deal at Paris Saint-Germain instead. Hakimi featured 32 times for the French giants in Ligue 1 this season, directly contributing to ten goals from right-back.
His impressive displays helped Mauricio Pochettino sustain the best defensive record in the league, steering the club to another title. Though, Hakimi's efforts weren't enough to navigate PSG into the latter stages of the Champions League.
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Despite this, he's believed to have continued courting the interest of Chelsea, with a switch to west London somewhat on the cards. Tuchel is a 'big fan' of Hakimi and the defender has always been high up on the club's transfer wish list, according to Fabrizio Romano.
In March, Hakimi decided that he wanted to leave Les Parc des Princes less than 12 months after joining, according to journalist Daniel Riolo on the 'After Foot show' on French radio RMC. Though, Romano's report clarifies that PSG have not received any proposals for the £77m-rated full-back, with the Blues boss likely prioritising recruitment across other areas of the pitch following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
With the duo not at Stamford Bridge next season, Tuchel is plotting a rebuild of his backline this summer. Speaking to football.london, the Blues boss said: "We are rebuilding, not improving the squad. We are rebuilding. This is always challenging, but we are up for the challenge.
"I don't know where we are from day one. What I can promise is that I will be here – if I can promise that – I will be here with full energy and positive energy no matter what. We will still work for Chelsea, and I refuse to think of negative scenarios. We will be competitive, on which level we will see."
football.london understand that Jules Kounde is the west London club's priority following the takeover. The Sevilla defender is keen on moving to the Blues, almost 12 months after his proposed switch to Stamford Bridge collapsed at the final hurdle.
There is a growing expectation that Chelsea will get the Kounde deal over the line this time around. But, Tuchel's search for new defenders is set to continue after that.
