Yahoo Finance Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel tried to sign ‘indescribable and unbelievable’ Bruno Fernandes for PSG
Thomas Tuchel has revealed how he tried to sign Bruno Fernandes for Paris Saint-Germain as his Chelsea side prepare to face the Manchester United star on Sunday.
Fernandes has established a reputation as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s key performer and one of the very best midfielders in the Premier League since arriving from Sporting Lisbon for an initial £47million fee in January 2020 following a protracted transfer saga.
The consistently influential Portuguese international always seems to have some hand in United’s goals, having scored 34 and assisted a further 21 in just 60 appearances across all competitions since his switch 13 months ago.
Fernandes will look to put the brakes on in-form Chelsea’s impressive run on Sunday as he comes up against a manager previously keen on taking the player to PSG.
“During my first year in Paris, not sure if it was the first transfer period or second or third, I am not sure. It was just when we arrived in the summer,” Tuchel said ahead of Sunday’s eagerly-awaited clash at Stamford Bridge.
“I got aware of him more in detail because of my sporting director [Antero Henrique] that knew him very well, so we watched more and more games about him and followed him and tried to be in touch with him to make it happen.
“Obviously he decided and I was never personally in touch with him but we tried and he went another way. Bad for us that we have to play against him.”
Tuchel went on to hail Fernandes as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world and described his production in English football to date as “indescribable and unbelievable”.
“He was a big personality for Sporting and an effective goalscorer and an effective guy to make the other players around more dangerous,” Tuchel said. “The impact he has had since he arrived at Manchester United is indescribable and unbelievable.
“To come from Portugal, from a competitive team, a big club but not from the strongest league and step in a year to one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League and the strongest league in Europe and to have this kind of impact, I have nothing but the biggest respect for this guy. It is outstanding.
“He is one of the best midfielders in the world, attacking midfielders, and he has a huge, huge impact and to have this as a single person in football, you must be absolutely top level because this is almost impossible.”
Additional quotes from the Press Association.
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