Thomas Tuchel cut a furious figure in the aftermath of Chelsea's 4-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday morning. The Blues head coach had just seen his sign outplayed and outclassed by a team that finished below them in the Premier League table last season.
Ultimately, it was a pre-season friendly and the result does not matter in the long-term. However, Chelsea's tour of the United States has been far from ideal – and it's one that has left more questions regarding the current squad than it has answers.
"Far from relaxed," Tuchel said after Chelsea's heavy defeat to Arsenal. "I think we deserved to lose – which is fair enough – because we were simply not good enough. We were absolutely not competitive. The worrying part is the level of commitment, physically and mentally, for this match was not the same, it was far higher for Arsenal than us.
READ MORE: Jules Kounde deal, Presnel Kimpembe move - Chelsea's to-do list in summer transfer window
"We can argue they played with I think their strongest line-up; they've had now together several weeks and for more than one year. They've strengthened their line-up, played the same structure, and this is the line-up they'll try to start Premier League games. It was not our strongest line-up and this is part of an explanation but only a little part. The other part is worrying."
There's no doubting that Chelsea need to add numerous signings before the summer transfer window slams shut at the beginning of September. Tuchel has made no secret of this in previous interviews this summer.
The club's main target – at the time of writing – is Jules Kounde from Sevilla. The Blues came very close to sealing a deal to sign the France international 12 months ago, but Sevilla changed their mind over a fee at the last minute, putting Chelsea off a move back then.
With a further year down on his contract, though, and Sevilla now more willing to sell the 23-year-old, Chelsea have switched their attention back to the defender. With Kalidou Koulibaly already through the door at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea want to sign two more central defenders following the double departure of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers.
Chelsea and Kounde verbally agreed on personal terms a few months ago, with the Frenchman open to moving to west London. That was when Marina Granovskaia was in charge of transfer-related activity, but when her departure was announced by the club, Chelsea moved on to pursuing the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Nathan Ake.
De Ligt has now signed for Bayern Munich, while Ake looks set to stay with Manchester City. Ever since the two defenders became unattainable, Chelsea have switched their focus to signing Kounde – but they could yet still miss out on the Sevilla defender.
Barcelona are working on a deal to sign Kounde at the last minute after Chelsea verbally agreed on a £55million move with Sevilla. Reports in Spain claim that Barca are close to agreeing a deal to sign Kounde, but Sevilla have denied any contact whatsoever with the Catalan club, football.london understands.
Of course this doesn't mean Barcelona won't officially come in for Kounde. Their financial problems mean their bid for Kounde will have to be structured differently, though, with add-ons and bonuses likely to play a significant factor in any future proposal. It's in Sevilla's court, really, with Kounde open to both destinations.
Tuchel could be left furious again should Chelsea miss out on a top target to Barcelona for the second time in one transfer window (see Raphinha). The end result may suggest that the Blues head coach may have been better served going all out on Kounde rather than looking elsewhere for other defenders.
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