Ousmane Dembele is very good player and I’m fortunate to have trained him, claims Thomas Tuchel

Few players have generated as much interest over the last few weeks as Ousmane Dembele with the Frenchman reportedly out of favour at Barcelona after having rejected a new contract. That has seen Dembele dropped by the La Liga giants with both Xavi and sporting director Mateu Alemany talking about the situation in recent weeks. However, while the situation is far from resolved, reports have indicated that the path is clear for Dembele to take on a new challenge.

Amongst the many linked has been Chelsea with Thomas Tuchel’s past playing a large part in that but the German has played down the rumours. Instead, he admitted that the French forward is an excellent player and that he was fortunate to have trained him at Borussia Dortmund. Tuchel further added that they have exchanged messages since they parted ways but has no ideas as to why the 24-year-old is in this situation.

"He’s a very good player, and I am very fortunate to have trained him in my time at Dortmund. It was only one year, it should have been longer, but I needed to leave and he decided to leave. We are not in close contact, we have met here and there because of his duties for the French national team when I was in Paris,” Tuchel said, reported Goal.

“We exchanged some messages. I have absolutely no idea why he is in this situation, I don’t know the detail, so it’s better not to talk."