Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, the club have confirmed.
Sky Sports Germany reported on Wednesday morning that the Bundesliga champions would be parting ways with the former Chelsea manager, in a development that may interfere with Liverpool’s succession plans for Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool chiefs are said to be extremely keen on the idea of their former midfielder Xabi Alonso taking over from Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season but Bayern would appear to have a similar idea themselves.
Liverpool’s emotional connection with the Spaniard was initially seen as a bargaining tool that may take him to Anfield but Bayern Munich can now play the same card.
Having spent five seasons anchoring Liverpool’s midfield between 2004 and 2009, Alonso went onto play for the German giants between 2014 and 2017, winning three League titles during his time there.
Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen will also be keen to hold onto the much-coveted Spaniard, with their chief Simon Rofles claiming recently to be ‘sure’ that the 42-year-old will remain with the club beyond this season.
“The other thing is how comfortable he feels, the family, himself and that he knows what he has in the club. He also has a very good team, we will have a very good perspective next year and there is no change in the team,” Rofles said to German outlet Sport1.
The news of Tuchel’s departure comes after Bayern suffered three consecutive defeats last week, including a humiliating 3-0 loss at Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
This has left them eight points adrift of Xabi Alonso’s side, and at serious risk of missing out on the league title for the first time since 2012.
The 2011/12 season was also the last trophyless season Bayern experienced, something there is a real prospect of them repeating this year.
Tuchel joined the German giants as manager in March last year, and managed to guide the side to an 11th consecutive league title on a dramatic final day.
As is always the case at Bayern, the league title was expected as an absolute minimum going into this season, especially after the headline signing of Harry Kane over the summer.
But whilst the England striker has been in some of the best form of his career, already racking up 25 goals and breaking numerous goal-scoring records this season, Tuchel’s side have been blindsided by an outstanding Leverkusen side.
Managed by Alonso, Leverkusen have yet to lose this season, winning 18 of their 22 league games and well on-course for their first ever Bundesliga title.
This week, rumours have swirled around potential replacements for Tuchel, with the likes of Alonso, Zinedine Zidane and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly being considered to take over from the German.
Tuchel released a statement this morning: “We have agreed that we will end our working relationship at the end of this season. Until then, I will of course continue to do everything I can with my coaching staff to achieve maximum success,” said the 50-year-old.
Dreesen said: “In a good, open discussion, we came to the decision to end our working relationship by mutual agreement in the summer. Our goal is to pursue a new footballing direction with a new head coach for the 2024 /25 season.
“Until then, every individual at the club is expressly called upon to achieve the maximum possible in the Champions League and Bundesliga. I also explicitly hold the team accountable in this regard.
“In the Champions League in particular, after losing 1-0 in the first leg at Lazio, we are convinced we will reach the quarter-finals at a packed Allianz Arena with our fans behind us.”
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