Thomas Tuchel admits some Chelsea players 'want to leave'

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confessed some of the team's returning loanees are keen to secure a move away from the club this summer.

The Blues had the best part of 30 players out on loan last season, most of whom have now returned to the club for pre-season under the new boss as they prepare for the next steps of their respective careers.

The likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Armando Broja have impressed in pre-season as they look to force their way into Tuchel's first team, but the boss admitted there are a handful of players whose focus remains elsewhere.

"I have never had that before," he told the club's official website of the chance to work with so many new players. "That was new, I was not scared about it, but I was curious to see how the mentality is because don't forget, some of them leave their families behind, some of them want to stay in their loan clubs, some of them have not that possibility.

"Some of them have done two or three pre-seasons here already. Some of them want to look absolutely for the chance to stay, some of them want to maybe leave. They're humans, they're not robots and that's why we have to accept it's not the easiest situation also for them.

"But what I've experienced every day is the complete opposite – it's a very positive group, hardworking, full of desire to learn, hungry in every training session and ready to go.

"It's such a good mix with the five or six guys who were with us here in the last half-a-year. I'm absolutely happy because it's so much easier than I thought, it's so easy and so nice to be the coach of these guys."

Tuchel went on to stress that every returning player will be given a fair shot to prove themselves in training, opening the door to the fringe-est of fringe players like Danny Drinkwater, Matt Miazga and Baba Rahman.

"There are possibilities for all of us and this group deserves our full attention, and they get it," he said. "I don't judge on where you come from or what your history is, or what you earn or what your status is. I'm in charge of this group so they get my 100%.

"I give my everything, they give it back, they make me smile, I give even more, that makes them smile, they give even more."