Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has lamented captain Cesar Azpilicueta's contract situation, with the defender into the final six months of his current deal and yet to renew terms.
Azpilicueta has been engaged in talks over an extension for several months, but he has also received a superior offer from Barcelona that would provide him with the longevity that he craves.
90min understands that a three-year deal at Camp Nou is on the table for the Spain international, should he decide to move on from Chelsea after ten years at Stamford Bridge. The 32-year-old's fellow defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are in a similar boat, and the club is growing fearful that all three players could walk away in the summer.
Tuchel was asked about the Blues' inability to resolve Azpilicueta's future to this point in his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
"Well the future of the players I like to be resolved normally immediately or not even in discussion, in the ideal world," he said.
"We do not live in the ideal world, though, so I think the contract situation with Azpi is pretty clear. It is not the biggest pressure on this subject but as you know, we have some other players also with contractual situations that are not fully solved."
"This is not ideal. This is also nobody’s particular fault," Tuchel continued. "This can happen sometimes in the moment we deal with it, and Azpi deals with it very professionally and I do not have the feeling that it affects any of his performances.
"We are on it behind closed doors. This is where it needs to be dealt with."
Asked recently about his future himself, Azpilicueta was coy, saying: "Of course, I arrived in the summer of 2012 and I didn't have kids."
"My kids were born in London and you know how I feel about Chelsea. But I am not going to comment on my future."
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Source : 90min