The Croatian midfielder, 28, has started just 15 of the Blues’ 33 Premier League games this season.

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And with Chelsea‘s huge squad in need of trimming down, he could be one of the players that makes way.

According to German outlet Sport1, Kovacic is seeking a way out of Stamford Bridge.

It is understood that Chelsea would rather sell him to a club outside of England.

And Tuchel, who coached Kovacic for 20 months during his stint in West London, is thought to be keen on the ex-Real Madrid man.

Kovacic claimed Champions League glory under Tuchel at Chelsea.

He joined the Blues from Real Madrid for £40million in 2019 and has gone on to rack up more than 200 appearances.

But he will enter the final 12 months of his deal this summer.

And the club have a plethora of options in the middle of the park including N’Golo Kante, Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Denis Zakaria, Carney Chukwuemeka and Mason Mount.

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Chelsea are desperately struggling on the pitch and Kovacic may seek a move to play Champions League football.

The Blues are down in 11th in the Premier League table, 14 points adrift of a European spot.

And they have lost all five games since interim boss Frank Lampard took over earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Tuchel came into Bayern in March after Julian Nagelsmann’s dismissal.

But since then they have fallen off top spot in the Bundesliga and been knocked out of the Champions League by Man City.