Thomas Tuchel admits Conor Gallagher & Callum Hudson-Odoi roles are 'not ideal'

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Thomas Tuchel admits Conor Gallagher & Callum Hudson-Odoi roles are 'not ideal'

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confessed that the competition for minutes in his squad is not ideal for young duo Conor Gallagher and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The pair of academy graduates have both attracted interest from the Premier League and abroad, with the Blues knocking back approaches for Gallagher while Hudson-Odoi has asked to leave in search of regular minutes.

When asked about Gallagher's future, Tuchel admitted that the 22-year-old faces a real battle to prove himself in Chelsea's midfield but urged the youngster to keep his head down and keep working.

“Conor fights in central midfield. To be very honest, it’s a tough fight for him because at the moment, as it seems, we only have two places in central midfield, which is a bit unfair given the number of players we have for central midfield," Tuchel began.

“It’s not ideal, I agree. But we have to do what’s best for the squad, not what’s best for every individual player.

“I’m a huge fan of Conor. He is first of all a fantastic guy. In the first weeks of training, he showed how much of a step he made by having so much playing time and how much of a personality on the pitch he became.

“It’s a very very normal situation in development that, after some really fantastic training sessions in the beginning, there’s a little dip in form, a dip in freshness at the moment, from which he suffers.

“On top he has huge competition with N’Golo [Kante], Jorgi [Jorginho] and Kova [Mateo Kovacic], who are used to playing with each other. But this is life in a big club and a competitive club like Chelsea.

“Everything is in its right place. We are happy with him and he keeps on fighting, because this is what he does. I think he has everything to become a very important player over the next years at Chelsea.”