THOMAS Tuchel insists Chelsea did "everything" to try and keep Tino Livramento at the club this summer.

The highly-rated academy product opted to leave his boyhood club to join Saints, in a deal reportedly worth an initial £5million.

Teenager Livramento, who never made a senior appearance at Chelsea, has proven to be a revelation at Saints, starting every Premier League match so far.

He looks set to face his former club tomorrow, when Saints head to Stamford Bridge.

Discussing Livramento, Blues boss Tuchel said: "He was highly rated, we did everything to keep him here, to show him his future and his possibilities to compete also for a position in our team. He decided to go, that’s his decision, sometimes you have to accept it, there are no hard feelings.

"He was of course competing with Reece James and Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta) in the right-wing-back position. I think it was an ideal position for him to fight and the group is not too big so there was a big chance also to make it all the way.

"If Tino decided to go, it’s fair enough, he does very well, we wish him all the best. Of course we saw the potential, he decided to go another way and fight for his place in Southampton and that’s how the business is."