"We are also selfish" - Tuchel insists he is 'still in talks' with Chelsea star amid interest from Barcelona

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has insisted that the club are still in talks with Cesar Azpilicueta over a possible contract extension despite Barcelona links.

The Catalan giants have reached an agreement with Andreas Christensen for a Bosman move, Fabrizio Romano reports, and Tuchel has confirmed that the defender is set to leave. Barcelona now have their sights on the Blues skipper as well.

Azpilicueta's contract was set to expire this summer too and the west London outfit risked losing him for free, but he triggered an automatic, appearance-related one-year extension in March.

That hasn't diluted Barcelona's interest and Tuchel has now admitted that Chelsea are still trying to negotiate a new deal with him that will keep the Spaniard at Stamford Bridge for the foreseeable future.

Having also lost Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid, the manager admitted that letting Azpilicueta go wouldn't be an ideal scenario for them.

In a recent press conference, he said (via Independent):

“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. 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."

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End of a cycle for the Chelsea skipper?

Azpilicueta joined Chelsea in 2012 and has won every trophy up for grabs. He also lifted the club's first-ever Club World Cup title last year and Tuchel feels it could mark the end of a glorious cycle for him at the club.

When asked if Azpilicueta would stay despite strong outside interest, he said:

“I would hope strongly, he knows this, he knows it. 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."

Azpilicueta would only have two more appearances left to make if he's set for a summer exit as Chelsea draw their season to a close with a pair of home games against Leicester City and Watford.