Tuchel wasn't surprised when Chelsea fired Potter

"I received the news via phone notification. The timing was quite coincidental when I also just got a job at Bayern. Overall, there was one more head coach position vacant and that was all," Tuchel told the media. German pine.

The German coach was appointed by Bayern to replace Julian Nagelsmann on March 25, a week before Chelsea announced the departure of Graham Potter because of poor results. Tuchel was in a similar situation when his contract was terminated by the Stamford Bridge owner in September last year, causing him to lose his job for months. At that time, Tuchel was considered a remnant of owner Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and new President Todd Boehly decided to replace him with Potter.

Tuchel once led Chelsea to the Champions League 2020-2021 championship. Many fans criticized the management when sacking him. And in fact, spending up to 398 million USD in the January transfer window, Chelsea increasingly declined under Potter. After six months of work, the British coach only won 12 matches, reaching a rate of 38.7%, drawing eight and losing 11 out of 38 matches.

"It took me a while to recover from being sacked by Chelsea because I enjoyed working there and built a long-term relationship with the club staff," Tuchel said. "It was a stressful period, but Chelsea changed a lot. It also helped me forget things faster. It's also why my emotions weren't affected so much when I heard Potter was sacked."

Tuchel's compatriot and predecessor at Bayern Nagelsmann is considered a leading candidate for the position of Chelsea captain. Despite his close relationship with his 35-year-old colleague, Tuchel said he would not give Nagelsmann advice on whether to accept Chelsea's offer. "I can't advise anything because Chelsea has changed a lot from when I worked there," the 49-year-old coach said.

Chelsea are 11th in the Premier League, 12 points behind fourth. The London club announced that Bruno Saltor will act as interim coach after Potter's departure.