Thomas Tuchel will not become the new manager of Arsenal because there will be no vacancy in the summer according to Raphael Honigstein, meaning Arsene Wenger will manage the side through the 2018/19 season.
Tuchel had reportedly agreed a deal to join Arsenal in the summer and this set off a bit of a social media frenzy amongst some fans.
But the report always seemed odd given the fact that there is no actual vacancy at Arsenal and it looked very much like Arsene Wenger would see out the final year of his contract.
It seems that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
Raphael Honigstein [@honigstein] on Tuchel to Arsenal: “All the indications in Germany, in London, is that he’s not going to Arsenal for the very simple reason that Arsenal have a coach who is not leaving.” [BBC] #afc pic.twitter.com/WFh1C4ZAMG
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) April 2, 2018
If you believe all the reports in the press, then Thomas Tuchel is going to make up for year out of the game by taking on three jobs at once – Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Chelsea (and possibly even PSG, too).
Of course, he isn’t really, but it does show how little real information is out there and how much is guesswork and agent games.
Recap
Last weekend it was claimed in Germany that Tuchel had agreed a deal to replace Arsene Wenger, turning down Bayern Munich in the process.
It was then claimed that Tuchel would turn down Arsenal because he wanted the Bayern job.
It is now being claimed that he is the favourite to take over at Chelsea when they finally get around to sacking another Premier League-winning manager.
Speaking on the Totally Football podcast, German journalist, Raphael Honigstein, said, “[Tuchel] left a message with Bayern Munich saying ‘Thanks for your interest, but I’m off. I’ve done a deal. I’ve promised someone that I’m going [to them].'”
That ties in with what was reported at the weekend, however Honigstein then added when pressed, “I have it on pretty good authority that Tuchel made a very good impression on [Chelsea director] Marina Granovskaia in a meeting they’ve had [but] I don’t know how recent that meeting was.”
Arsenal are expected to make a decision on Wenger’s future at the end of the season with the Frenchman likely to be allowed to see out the final year of his contract should he want to.
He certainly does, as his latest comments on the matter confirm, so it’s highly unlikely that Arsenal will be getting a change of manager this summer unless something dramatic happens.
Chelsea, however, need little encouragement to sack a manager and with Tuchel available, Arsenal fans could be once again be left to watch on as a top manager takes a Premier League job at a rival club, diminishing the pool for when Arsenal finally decide it’s time to make a move.
Meanwhile, Le10Sport are today reporting that Tuchel is in ‘very advanced’ talks over becoming the new PSG manager when they sack Unai Emery in the summer.