In the midst of pre-season, Chelsea’s head coach also felt the extensive discussions over targets ate into the time he needed to prepare his players for the new season, feeding into his decision to send his agent to attend in his place.
Tuchel’s initial wishlist of players included Matthijs de Ligt, Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong and Presnel Kimpembe, none of which the new owners managed to deliver. There was also a disagreement over the method of identifying targets: Boehly and Eghbali leaned on data analysts with experience in US sports, while Tuchel stressed the need for him to be able to talk to potential signings in order to get a feel for their personalities and how they might fit into the group.
He also felt he was forced to devote too much time and energy into trying to steer the new owners away from signing players he did not want — namely Ronaldo and Jules Kounde, who Mendes had the mandate from Atletico to sell. Chelsea insist they were the ones who decided to leave Kounde to Barcelona, having decided that Wesley Fofana was a better physical fit for the Premier League after conducting an extensive data analysis of right-sided defenders.