After their 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, Chelsea has fired Thomas Tuchel as manager and are anticipated to approach Brighton for permission to meet with Graham Potter.
It is believed that Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, both of whom are now unemployed, are also on Chelsea’s shortlist.
Tuchel’s resignation followed a dismal start to the season, with the club losing to Leeds and Southampton in the Premier League, and was expected after his relationship with co-owner Todd Boehly deteriorated during the summer transfer window. The pair had almost completely ceased communicating.
As well as Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Chelsea spent a record £266 million in one transfer window. This raised the pressure on Tuchel, although not all of the signings were his and there were other examples of the owner trying to force players on him.
Tuchel was not interested in Anthony Gordon, for instance. Some of the performance indicators of the Everton midfielder had impressed the data experts at Boehly, who advocated for his acquisition. Tuchel felt he had too many players to accommodate and not enough dependable guys.
Boehly learned that certain senior players were dissatisfied with Tuchel’s methods and is eager to install himself. One of Chelsea’s three formations in Zagreb contained Sterling in the middle midfield.
A statement read, “On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the club would like to thank Thomas and his colleagues for all their efforts throughout their time with the club.” Thomas deserves a place in Chelsea’s history, having won the Champions League, Super Cup, and Club World Cup during his stint with the club.
“As the new ownership group approaches 100 days since assuming control of the club, and as it continues to work tirelessly to move the club forward, they believe it is appropriate to make this transfer.
As the club moves fast to appoint a new head coach, the Chelsea coaching staff will assume responsibility for squad training and preparation for forthcoming matches.
The dismissal took place face-to-face with the club’s owners at the Cobham training facility on Wednesday morning, and Tuchel’s three assistant coaches — Arno Michels, Zsolt Low, and Benjamin Weber — are anticipated to leave with him.
Tuchel has been quite open about the team’s competitive preparation, beginning with his angry comments after the 4-0 loss to Arsenal on the club’s tour of the United States. The owners began to hear the same complaints and explanations from him, with Zagreb representing the lowest point. “Currently, everything is lacking,” he stated on Tuesday evening. The owners believed that his remarks harmed the confidence of the players.
Tuchel felt alone with the exits of his close allies, director Marina Granovskaia and technical and performance adviser Petr Cech.
Four months after taking over for Frank Lampard in January 2021, Tuchel won the Champions League. An anticipated Premier League title push failed to materialize the next season, with Romelu Lukaku’s club-record transfer not having the desired impact, although the campaign was substantially exacerbated by Roman Abramovich’s ownership position. Tuchel took the squad to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals, although both were lost on penalty kicks to Liverpool.
In recent weeks, Tuchel has struggled to control his emotions, receiving a red card against Tottenham, being deemed “primarily responsible” for his altercation with Antonio Conte, and receiving a yellow card in Zagreb.
Chelsea is five points behind the Premier League leaders and three points behind fourth place.
