Thomas Tuchel has previously lauded Andreas Christensen, with the Chelsea defender continuing to be linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
The Denmark international has around eight months remaining on his Blues contract and with his future uncertain, he continues to be involved in the transfer rumour mill on a regular basis.
Atletico Madrid and Juventus are said to be interested in Christensen, with a report recently claiming that talks over a new contract extension in west London have stalled.
According to a report from Goal, talks over the 25-year-old’s future have been paused, which has apparently put other clubs on red alert.
Tuchel, though, is clearly a big fan of Christensen, with the Blues boss praising his character as well as his performances on the pitch for his team so far this season.
“I think it is important we accept the personality of every player. Some are more loud, some aggressive, some more calm,” the Chelsea manager said earlier in the season.
“He’s a calm guy, very intelligent player, and sometimes you can get maybe a bit misled by judging him from his personality, because he is a hard defender and he is a guy who is not shy to have hard tackles and win challenges and step up in games. He found his place.
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“He is very strong, very reliable and he has not reached his limits because in his age there is still room to improve. He can be a top defender for us in the next years and hopefully he will be because he comes from the academy.
“He knows what it takes and he has improved massively so far but it is not done yet – you have to show it over and over. There are big examples in this club of what it takes to be a legend in defence and there is still a way to go but we are very happy so far.”
The Danish defender has made 11 appearances so far this season for Chelsea in all competitions and has helped his side keep seven clean sheets in the process.
Rather alarmingly for Tuchel, Christensen’s situation is very similar to that of Antonio Rudiger. The Germany international sees his contract expire at the same time as Christensen’s and continues to be linked with an exit from Stamford Bridge.