Thomas Tuchel has admitted that Chelsea could be about to end their interest in Jules Kounde.
The Sevilla centre-back was a key transfer target for the Blues throughout the summer.
The European champions had an offer of £43m for Kounde turned down by the La Liga side, who insisted Chelsea must trigger the Frenchman's release clause of £68.5m.
Thomas Tuchel's side opted against doing so but were thought to retain an interest in Kounde after the summer market closed for business.
Sevilla warned Chelsea in October that they would not sell one of their prized assets on the cheap.
And the Premier League leaders could now be poised to move on from Kounde, thanks in large part to the emergence of Trevoh Chalobah this season.
The 22-year-old has played an unexpectedly prominent role in the first team so far in the 2021/22 campaign.
Chalobah has made 10 appearances in all competitions and scored two goals.
His fine run of form was rewarded this week when the defender signed a new five-year contract to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2026.
And Tuchel says Chalobah's breakthrough means there is less need to recruit a centre-back from elsewhere.
“I think every transfer period you need to evaluate again because you cannot say what we wanted in the summer we do in the winter or the next summer. It is not like this," he said.
“Your opinion changes, players change, you have evolvement in the group. You have atmosphere that you build, you see who is absolutely reliable and these connections build up and create something special, hopefully, in the group.
“So you cannot say what we tried in the summer did not happen so we will try again for sure in the winter.
"Sometimes it is like this if we see the same need, but clearly Trevoh is now here with us and he deserves to be here with us. It had nothing to do with if we can sign another central defender or not.
“But he stepped up. The responsibility was even more on his shoulders and he can handle it so far in a very impressive way. This is the situation and it has an effect on our next decisions in the next transfer period. It is always like this.”
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