Andreas Christensen thanks Tuchel but offers “difficult” Chelsea contract update

Christensen says there has been a huge improvement in his game under Thomas Tuchel compared to Frank Lampard… but he could still leave Chelsea this summer

Andreas Christensen is grateful that boss Thomas Tuchel has given him the room to grow and improve at Chelsea.

That Tuchel has given Christensen the opportunity to win trophies that really mean something to the defender, by selecting him to start games at the business end of major competitions.

Christensen said: “In the last few years, it has come together more like it should have been from the beginning.

“I’ve been here for so long, a lot of different managers as well, and it is hard for a young player to prove himself all the time.

“But coming from the academy, where people know me so well, it has been the last couple of years where I should have been for a long time at a comfortable level.

“If I had to say something about myself, that is probably my biggest flaw, that I wasn’t consistent enough, but in the last few seasons I’ve been a lot better and being part of what we are trying now is great.

“In the end with Frank Lampard, I struggled to get the game time I wanted, but Thomas came in and knew me from Germany and I got the idea quite early. It has helped me massively.

“I had the space to make the mistakes that I made and still play, while earlier in the my career I might have struggled to get back in the team.

“That helped me massively with my confidence and the team. He has given a lot of space to me and others, to allow them to make mistakes.

“It happens. We learn from them. He has helped me a lot.”

At Wembley on Sunday, where the Blues face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final, Christensen will be given the chance to win one of the two competitions – along with the FA Cup – that he hasn’t won in his 10 years at Stamford Bridge.

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He added: “I was part of winning many of the trophies but, at same time, you don’t really feel like you deserved it because you weren’t playing.

“You’re a young boy who might have played the first rounds against the smaller teams and you don’t feel like you’re part of it.

“The recent years have been very good for me — I played the whole of the Europa League and the final, then there was the Champions League, a big part of it, last year and most recent the Club World Cup.

“Being involved and feeling you deserve it is an amazing feeling. It’s what keeps me going. I want more trophies.”

Despite his gratitude to Tuchel, Christensen could well be on his way from Chelsea when his contract expires in the summer.

He added: “Things can still be done. Being part of a winning team is all that I want to be as a football player.

“It’s hard because all the talks between the club and my guys, I try to keep it away because I want to focus and it’s not changed for me.

“I go on the pitch every day not really thinking about it. I leave that to the club and my guys, and I can focus on playing football.

“I just focus on winning, really. It’s a difficult situation.”