SAN FRANCISCO, December 24, (THEWILL) – Paris Saint-Germain have sacked manager Thomas Tuchel, according to reports monitored by THEWILL.
Delivering a Christmas Eve shocker, the club has reportedly relieved the German of his duties just a day after the French champions thrashed Strasbourg 4-0 to climb within a point of the Ligue 1 summit.
The 47-year-old, who arrived in the French capital in 2018, shepherded PSG to the UEFA Champions League final last season, where they were denied a first-ever- continental trophy by a narrow 1-0 defeat against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
Wednesday night’s victory against Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes was the side’s final game for the year as they go on break to return on January 6 against St Etienne.
Not much is certain about the rationale for the sack but Tuchel had given an interview in his homeland in which he was quoted as saying he had, at times, felt more like “a sports politician or sports minister than a coach” during his tenure in Paris.
However, the German attempted to clarify the comments when questioned in the aftermath of his side’s win against Strasbourg.
“I didn’t say it’s more about politics than sport, nor that I lost the fun of training. This is not true. It is possible they translated incorrectly.
“Watch the video interview. I just said that PSG are unique and that it’s a big challenge for me. It’s always been like that. I like this challenge and nothing has changed.”
In his post-match news conference, Tuchel added: “I gave a video interview to a journalist who told me to do a story about German coaches.
“It is not an interview for him. It is not allowed. I was making a joke in German. The translation is not correct. We cannot translate word for word. It was a joke while we were talking and it is not allowed.”
The former Borussia Dortmund boss had won six trophies with Les Parisiens, including back-to-back Ligue 1 crowns.
Already, word is making the rounds that ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is the favourite to replace Tuchel in the PSG dugout while Massimiliano Allegri, who has been out of work since leaving Juventus last year, is also considered one of the frontrunners for the position.
The 48-year-old Pochettino is still without a club after exiting Spurs last year and is being mooted to make a return to the club where he featured as a defender between 2001-2003.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
