has launched a staunch defence of ’s decision to sell two of their academy’s brightest graduates last summer.
Chelsea’s Cobham conveyor belt has provided a succession of managers with a number of ready-made solutions over the course of the last decade with and his successor particularly keen to give youth a chance.
The likes of Reece James, and Trevoh Chalobah have been mainstays of Tuchel’s side this season, but Chelsea’s relentless pursuit of silverware has meant several potential first team players have been reluctant to bide their time and wait for opportunities.
And while Chelsea gained financially, to the tune of of £23million, through the sales of Tino Livramento and Marc Guehi to Southampton and Crystal Palace, the decision to part company with both players could yet be a costly one given the rapid progress both have made at their new clubs.
Guehi has been at the heart of Palace’s impressive run to Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, but Tuchel insists there was no guarantee the new England international would have figured so prominently in his plans had the 21-year-old remained at Stamford Bridge.
‘For Marc Guehi it is a fantastic development,’ said Tuchel at his pre-match press conference. ‘It is impossible now to say if we kept him he would have been better, been worse or been the same.
‘Maybe he needed that (to leave). Maybe he needed the change of environment, a different club, a different role, more minutes to develop your full potential.
‘It just tells you over and over again that if you trust younger players and have a role for them, they can on a very regular level match expectations and even over perform. It’s nice to see so many Chelsea players out there in every league.
‘We are well aware for it. It is nice to play against them and see them develop.’
In Livramento’s case, meanwhile, Tuchel added that it was the player who sought a permanent move when Chelsea’s desire had been to send the talented right-back on loan.
He added: ‘It is a decision we took together and are happy about these decisions. You cannot go back and reflect at this point.
‘When we took the decisions it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. For example, individual decisions.
‘For Tino Livramento, we had a plan and we wanted, preferred a loan. He saw his future to go and the situation was then better to agree to the sale’
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