Thomas Tuchel insists Chelsea don’t need to sign a midfielder or striker

Thomas Tuchel has rubbished the suggestion that Chelsea need to add a striker or midfielder before the transfer window closes.

The Blues suffered a dispiriting 3-0 defeat to Leeds at Elland Road, leaving Tuchel’s side in the bottom half of the Premier League table after three games.

Chelsea’s attacking trio once again failed to find the net, with Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount flanking Kai Havertz as the false nine.

And when Tuchel was asked whether the result underlined the need to strengthen in the forward areas, he replied: “No, no.”

Conor Gallagher was also handed his first start in a Chelsea shirt alongside Jorginho in midfield, but the Englishman failed to impress.

Quizzed about whether the Blues will look to bolster their midfield ranks before the end of the transfer window, Tuchel said his side are well-stocked.

“Another midfielder? We have Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, we have Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Mateo Kovacic…

“They [Kovacic and Kante] are injured, yes, it’s a problem. But they will come back. They’ve not disappeared.”

At one stage late in the second half, Leeds had covered 11km more in running distance than Chelsea. However, Tuchel played down the idea that the Blues failed to match the endeavour of their hosts.

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“We scored an own goal and gave an awfully cheap set-piece away and conceded from it,” added the German. “This has nothing to do with pressing, running less kilometres, nothing to do with the style of Leeds. We should not confuse these things.

“We were able to cope with the style, able to be the better team, able to be one or two goals ahead, but we give an own goal away and the set-piece has nothing to do with anything.

“From there it’s 2-0 and the belief for Leeds is on top level and our body language, even in the ten minutes before, was not what it was like in the last match.”

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