Thomas Tuchel hails arrival of 'huge asset' Raheem Sterling at Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel has lauded Raheem Sterling's arrival at Chelsea following the attacker's £50m move from Manchester City.
Sterling was announced as a Chelsea player on Wednesday having signed a five-year contract and flown out to Los Angeles to join the club's pre-season tour of the US.
The England international becomes the west Londoners' first major signing under the ownership of Todd Boehly.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Chelsea head coach Tuchel expressed his delight at getting the deal over the line and bringing in a proven goalscorer and winner.
"Hopefully he shapes our team by just being who he is," the German said. "He will be a huge asset for us.
"For me, he is a huge player, with a huge influence in the last years in English football and he's in a perfect age to now take responsibility around young players that we have and be an example.
"Getting what he delivered for years given his age, his hunger for responsibility, and his style of play and his amount of intensity is outstanding.
"It is the benchmark in the Premier League and is exactly what we need."
Tuchel also opened up on his 'intense' relationship with Chelsea's new owner Boehly, revealing that they are working closely together this summer and he has taken on more responsibility himself.
"The relationship [with the owners] is very intense, very close, which it has to be - because without Petr [Cech] and without Marina [Granovskaia], it's a big change in the daily structure and communication," Tuchel said in LA.
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"I'm a lot more involved. I have to step up in terms of responsibility. I think in the long-term or even when the close of the pre-season comes, I will want to be more on the coaching role again.
"But right now it's important to improve our team, to bring players in to stay competitive because we want to compete for a minimum of top four. Given the fact that Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United act on the transfer market for weeks and months, we need to be smart, we need to be fast and we need to find solutions. It's my job to help."
Chelsea want to further reinforce their attack this summer, but 90min understands they will not be pursuing a deal for Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, with Tuchel keen to add a new right forward instead.