Tuchel makes stance clear on Haaland and Sergio Aguero transfers to Chelsea

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel would not be drawn on whether the Premier League club are looking to sign Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland or Manchester City's Sergio Aguero in the off-season.

City announced on Monday that their all-time top scorer Aguero would leave the club at the end of the season when his contract expires while 20-year-old Haaland is hot property in Europe after his goal scoring exploits this season.

"I will not answer that out of respect for the player (Haaland) and Borussia Dortmund. There is big news around him and his agent," Tuchel, who previously coached Dortmund, told reporters on Friday.

"It seems like they are creating a race for the player... a promising player, of course. But he isn't our player and is not in our squad.

"We have full respect for Manchester City and Sergio Aguero, who is a big player for them... He's a world-class player. But we have three competitions in which we are in with Manchester City so I will not speak about their player."

Both strikers have been linked with Chelsea as Timo Werner continues to struggle in front of goal. The forward missed a golden opportunity in Germany's 2-1 loss to North Macedonia, but Tuchel swept aside any worries over his form.

February 20, 2021 Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel Pool via REUTERS

"Timo has scored since he was five years old and he never stopped. So he can trust his brain and body, it will come back," he said.

Tuchel said he was glad to have all his defenders fit for the season's run-in but added midfielder N'Golo Kante would miss the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Porto next week after sustaining a hamstring injury with France.

"My realistic approach is to think about (a return against) Porto, maybe the second game against Porto," he said.