ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel met owner Roman Abramovich for the first time in Porto… and admits it can only go downhill from here.
Tuchel was appointed in January after the notoriously trigger-happy Russian billionaire axed club legend, Frank Lampard.
At the time, the Blues appeared massive outsiders to even qualify for the Champions League, let alone win it.
Now, after watching Kai Havertz down Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in Saturday’s final, the German is now the toast of West London.
But Tuchel, 47, knows he may have a fight on his hands to keep it that way… even if a new contract may be in the offing.
The former PSG boss said: “I think I have a new contract already.
“My manager said something to me about it – but I don’t know for sure.
“It was a special moment to meet the owner for the first time on the pitch.
“It was the best time for that – or maybe the worst because it can only get worse after this.”
Abramovich, 54, was Portugal making the most a rare opportunity to watch the Blues, who has owned since 2003.
Visa issues have meant the Russian has not been able to watch the Blues play at Stamford Bridge in more than three years but the billionaire made sure he was in Porto for their European showdown on Saturday night.
SunSport’s star snapper Richard Pelham pictured the oligarch making his way to his seat in the Estadio do Dragao.
Abramovich’s visa issues meant he had never met his latest appointment into the Stamford Bridge hot-seat.
But he recently reiterated his commitment to Chelsea despite his UK exile.
It is believed Abramovich had was watched just three live games – Chelsea’s Europa League final against Arsenal in 2019, a friendly against RB Salzburg a month later and the win over Krasnodar last October – since leaving London for Israel in April 2018.
In the years since his last visit, there have been on-off rumours that the Blues had been put up for sale, with the Russian – who recently jumped to eighth in the Sunday Times Rich List – reportedly looking for more than £2bn.
But in a rare interview with Forbes, Abramovich doubled down on his desire to lead Chelsea into the future after last summer’s huge £222million transfer spend.
And Tuchel is desperate to be part of that future at the Bridge.
“We have a very strong group of players here and I want to close the gap.
“I want to dedicate this victory to my parents, my wife and my kids, who were in the stadium.”
