Thomas Tuchel has made it clear that Borussia Dortmund are not interested in signing U.S. youngster Gedion Zelalem, or any other players, during the January transfer window.
Dortmund returned to training last week after the winter break with seven first-team members missing, including star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is on international duty with Gabon at the African Nations Cup.
The likes of Mario Gotze, Raphael Guerreiro, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Nuri Sahin, Neven Subotic and Sebastian Rode are all recovering from injuries.
But despite being down on numbers, Tuchel is adamant that Dortmund do not need to reinforce their squad in January, preferring to work with what he has on hand.
"I don't think that we add somebody [in January]," Tuchel told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview with Raphael Honigstein.
"We had a lot of new players and it all takes time [to settle]. Even the German guys, who have a lot of experience, you have to admit that it took its time for them [to settle]. Every change in a club takes time.
"Right now, the group is growing together. We had to change a lot because we had too many injuries. We wish for more players to be healthy, more players on the pitch who can play week after week, they need those minutes. Right now, we don't want to add somebody."
Earleir this week, multiple reports and ESPN FC sources had said that Arsenal and United States under-23 international Zelalem was close to joining Dortmund.
The 19-year-old went on a season-long loan at Rangers last term, and is out of contract in the summer, which could lead to a move for a cut-price fee in January.
But asked specifically about Zelalem, Tuchel denied any possibility of a deal going through.
"Right now? No. Not as far as I'm concerned," he said.
