Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he has turned down opportunities to return to management following his sacking by Chelsea.
Tuchel was let go by the Blues last month following an opening-day Champions League loss away to Dinamo Zagreb. It was a surprise decision to dismiss the German coach, who had won the Champions League title with the club just over 12 months previously.
The boss was not interested in taking over at Aston Villa following the sacking of Steven Gerrard last week. Earlier this month, a report from German media outlet Sport 1 suggested Bayer Leverkusen made an approach to appoint the out-of-work Tuchel, before moving to appoint Xabi Alonso.
Separate reports have outlined how Tuchel turned down approaches from two unnamed Premier League clubs prior to the job at Villa Park opening up – which was eventually taken by Unai Emery. The German is unsurprisingly in high demand due to his outstanding coaching CV.
“I haven’t made a decision yet,” Tuchel explained to Sport Star. “It is now time for me to take a break. Some clubs have been calling my manager but we agreed that he would not call me here for these past 18 days.”
Tuchel also guided the Blues to the finals of both the FA Cup and EFL Cup last season, only for the team to be defeated by Liverpool in penalty shootouts in both showpieces. He secured successive top-four finishes during his Stamford Bridge tenure.
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Opening up on his departure from the West London club in September, Tuchel added: “I loved every day at Chelsea. It came to an end too early for me, but it was out of my hands. This is also what you sign up for.”
When asked to recall his most memorable games at Chelsea: “There were many games that I was really happy with – the ones against Real Madrid (2-0), Atletico Madrid (2-0), Porto (2-0 and 1-0) and the final (1-0 against Manchester City ).”
Prior to taking the reins at Chelsea midway through the 2020-21 campaign – when he replaced Frank Lampard – Tuchel guided Paris Saint-Germain to their only-ever Champions League final a season prior to winning the competition with Chelsea.
