Thomas Tuchel has joked that Todd Boehly must be banned from watching games at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea stumbled once more in front of their incoming owner.

Boehly sat in the posh seats alongside other members of his consortium as Chelsea secured third place with a frustrating draw against Leicester on Thursday night.

The LA Dodgers part-owner has now seen no wins in three, having also watched Tuchel’s side lose the FA Cup final and draw against Wolves earlier this month.

Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea slipped up again with Todd Boehly watching on at Stamford Bridge

‘Was he here again? Well that is a clear sign,’ Tuchel said following the Leicester draw. ‘He will be watching on ESPN from Los Angeles next season, that is clear. It is already clear it has to be like this. And he was at the final at Wembley.’

The German hopes Chelsea’s luck will turn when the £4.25billion takeover is signed off.

‘Maybe when the deal is done and he is our owner, he will become the lucky charm that we need, so perhaps we will give him one more credit,’ he said.

Tuchel has a final chance this season, against Watford on Sunday, to improve Chelsea’s stuttering home form. After that focus will turn to rebuilding under the new ownership. 

‘We will be very open and honest. He will get my point of view if he wants to have it. We are losing key players and we have struggled lately to win our home games,’ he said.

Tuchel suggested this season of sanctions and uncertainty has been the most challenging of his career, ‘but also a lot of fun.’ Heading into the final day, Chelsea have the worst home record of the top seven.

That must change if they are to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool above them.

‘There is not a lot wrong. It is margins,’ Tuchel insisted. ‘Maybe the only thing we have to change is that we have everybody available.

‘The top teams - Liverpool - signed a magnificent player (Luis Diaz) in winter to make the existing squad stronger. Manchester City signed (Erling) Haaland already… we are losing players.’ 

The Chelsea boss added: ‘We have lacked huge quality like N’Golo (Kante), Ben Chilwell, Reece James… it is maybe a miracle we are in the top three when we have been without these key players.’

Tuchel claimed after the game that Kante is Chelsea’s ‘Mo Salah, our (Virgil) Van Dijk, our (Kevin) De Bruyne, our Neymar, our Kylian Mbappe.’ The Chelsea manager believes James has ‘everything’ to become one of the world’s best players, too.

‘It is a long way to go for Reece. He has some incredible potential and he has the ability, the foundation, the body, the physique, the mindset to make his way to the very top but there is still a long way to go.’

Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, meanwhile, has still to discuss his future with Tuchel after another season as Edouard Mendy’s No 2.

‘It depends what he wants and what his plans are,’ the manager said. ‘I know for sure that Kepa is not happy about the situation because he deserves to play more and he can be a very strong no. 1. He arrived as a no. 1 so I can just tell you the situation is not easy.’ 

The 27-year-old has three years left on his current deal. 

‘We did not have this conversation. I know the goalkeeping coach has been having these conversations at the moment and then we will take our time to talk to him and reflect on what is best and what the possibilities are.’