Chelsea still 'in talks' over Cesar Azpilicueta future, confirms Thomas Tuchel

The 38 year old Spaniard has already won every major trophy with Chelsea and has hinted he would like to return to his homeland to finish his stellar career.

Chelsea activated an option in Azpilicueta's contract in March to try and retain some control over the situation, although Tuchel says he still cannot rule a move out this summer.

"I would hope strongly, he knows this, he knows it," Tuchel said when asked if he wants Azpilicueta to stay at Chelsea this summer.

"We are still in the talks to find out the ideal solution.

"We had a lot of these talks because very genuinely it felt like he won everything after the Club World Cup, then suddenly given his personal situation I can understand these thoughts that maybe a cycle is at its end.

"Then it's a change of ownership and he played only under this owner, in this structure, so it maybe increased even his second thoughts about his situation.

"But then his extension kicked in at the same time and he loves the club, he loves the challenge, he loves to be here and he is our captain. So we are still in a dialogue."

While Chelsea might have previously been more amenable to the wishes of Azpilicueta, this summer they may not be in a position to do so.

Their ownership situation is still to be resolved, making transfer planning impossible, and they are already losing defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers this summer.

"At some point we are also selfish, we are not responsible to solve any other club's problems or to fulfil any other club's wishes," said Tuchel.

"Given the fact we lose already key defenders, it's not the ideal scenario to think about losing Azpi, even if I can understand his personal point of view.

"At some point if you are a legend, which he is, you deserve maybe also from me and the club, a second look at it, is there is maybe an exception from the rule and we are still in this process.

"He deserves it (to be heard). I listen to my captain. He has been at this club for more than a decade so he has this right. This is my opinion.

"What he has done is outstanding. He has won every single trophy with this club. He was not the captain before but he has this mentality.

"He is a helper. A true helper on the pitch, Everybody loves to play next to him on the pitch because you can be sure that he does everything to make the team look good. He does not care if he looks good.

"I am very happy that players like this can actually prove it with all the trophies that he won that you can succeed at the top level by being this way."