The midfield duo trained with the Under-23s squad in London and will miss all three games of the senior team in the United States.
Before a match against Mexican side Club America in Las VegasTuchel admitted that he will now think twice before bringing in a player without a vaccine passport.
“Yes, it must [come into your thinking]Tuchel told reporters ahead of the game at Allegiant Stadium. “I knew a number of players that I would also take without vaccination. I must say,” he added with a smile.
“But yes, it is part of everyday life at the moment.”
On Friday, Kante and Loftus-Cheek took part in the academy’s match against London whitefish Boreham Wood instead of against Club America.
In Kante’s case, Tuchel thinks it won’t be a big problem. But for Loftus-Cheek, he can see how a returning Conor Gallagher can use the preseason to take his place in the squad.
Tuchel is frustrated that he doesn’t have his entire team, but is powerless to force his players to get vaccinated.
“We cannot force,” he added. “It is a very normal decision at the moment to get vaccinated. Both players decided not to do this. We have to follow the rules. They cannot join us. They know the consequences.
“We don’t like it. Of course not. We would like to have them here and it is not an ideal solution. Far from ideal. But once the situation is like this, you have to come up with a solution. So there they have their coaches.
“They have coaches from us there who care. They train with the Under-23s. Then they go with the Under-19s so as not to be in a group at all. But it won’t compensate. It won’t be the same.
“For N’Golo, it might not even be the worst thing to do. So we can give him a very individual charge. Very, very individualized load for him. So maybe we can turn a disadvantage into an advantage.
“I don’t think he needs particularly much time to adapt to our game because N’Golo is N’Golo and everyone is aware that he is a key player and must be a key player if you want to do big things. want to win.” .”
Kante has less than a year left on his contract alongside teammates Jorginho and Marcos Alonso.
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The Blues could lose a star player for free next summer, as Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are already leaving under similar circumstances this summer.
It was a problem that Tuchel had wanted to solve under the previous owner and which he has already asked to be solved by the new Boehly-Clearlake consortium.
“It is [an issue]but I want many things,” he concluded.
“Not everything is becoming reality, but everyone is aware of the situation with only N’Golo but also Jorginho. We knew about the situation with Andreas and Toni and we don’t want this. So we are working to resolve it in the interest of the club.”