Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel 'admires' Cristiano Ronaldo but remains 'unclear' as to whether the Portuguese fits in with his plans for next season as two board members consider making an official approach to Man United.
The Portuguese international's future has been thrown into doubt after reports surfaced over the weekend suggesting that he had requested the Glazers to accept an offer to release him from his short-term deal if a suitable transfer proposition was sent from a Champions League side. New owner Todd Boehly has reportedly already met Ronaldo's super-agent Jorge Mendes in Portugal to discuss the idea of making this unlikely situation a possibility, and it has transpired since that the Blues are the current 'favourites' to sign the 37-year-old.
This is despite Man United's reluctance to sell to a direct rival and lose a brand in CR7, which has generated the Glazer family a lot of money already since returning last summer after Juventus agreed to get rid of the big wages and accumulate £14million at the same time. To add fuel to the fire, United's iconic number 7 had missed the first day of pre-season for 'family reasons', so his absence ahead of the Red Devils' tour of Australia will only worry his own fanbase, which may be speculating that something could be going on behind the scenes regarding the formulation of a potential exit.
READ MORE: Chelsea labelled 'favourites' to sign Cristiano Ronaldo as Champions League ambitions revealed
Despite not team currently making a concrete proposal to Man United and new manager Erik ten Hag, who, in spite of wanting Ronaldo to stay, has earmarked Ajax's Antony as his ideal replacement, the race for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner has certainly turned up another notch between interested parties that include the likes of Napoli and Bayern Munich who alongside the Blues have been offered Mendes' client already.
This is because as per The Athletic, Chelsea are 'considering' making a formal move to ensure that Ronaldo's 19-season love affair of the Champions League lives on for a 20th time in 2022/23. The report goes on to clarify that part-LA Dodgers owner Boehly and Clearlake Capital consortium partner Behdad Eghbali are 'intrigued' by the idea of making this blockbuster move one of their promised 'marquee' signings that Thomas Tuchel is expecting.
But how does Tuchel view the prospect of Ronaldo joining his attacking re-shuffle this summer?
The same report has said that Chelsea's Champions League winning manager admires the serial trophy winner like many others, but it is 'unclear' currently whether or not he will give the 'green light' to Boehly in order for the board to crack on.
The Evening Standard has also added that amid links to Neymar too, Tuchel will not be 'seduced' by the idea of signing a galactico type of player that won't only be big for Chelsea on the pitch, but off it too in the commercialisation sense. It has to make sense tactically in his eyes for a seal of approval to be delivered from his own mouth. Of course, Frank Lampard's successor has already gone on record to declare his admiration for a player considered by most to be a GOAT (greatest of all time).
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