Chelsea have officially announced the appointment of their new manager Thomas Tuchel, who will replace Frank Lampard. The club announced that the contract is for 18 months with the possibility to be extended. The new coach even attended today’s training session of the team, which he will lead tomorrow against Wolverhampton.
This is the fourth team in Tuhel’s coaching career, which is the first German manager in Blue’s history. He started as a coach of Mainz 05, then took over Borussia Dortmund. After seven seasons in the Bundesliga, in the summer of 2018 Tuhel became coach of Paris Saint-Germain, from where he was released only a month ago.
The specialist can boast two French titles, one national cup, one French league cup, two French super cups and one German cup. Also last summer, he led PSG to their first Champions League final, lost to Bayern Munich 0-1.
“I would like to thank Chelsea FC for their confidence in me and my staff”, started Tuchel. “We all have the greatest respect for Frank Lampard’s work and the legacy he created at Chelsea. At the same time, I cannot wait to meet my new team and compete in the most exciting league in football. I am grateful to now be part of the Chelsea family – it feels amazing!”, finished the German.
At Chelsea, the 47-year-old manager will meet Christian Pulisic and Thiago Silva, whom he has known since his time at Dortmund and PSG. There are also three German nationals at Stamford Bridge – Antonio Rüdiger, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
Rumors say that owner Roman Abramovich expects Chelsea to return for the title battle this season, something that seems long gone after poor run so far. The short contract may be a conformation to that rumor, but more realistic expectation form Tuchel would be to finish in top 4 and get the team in the Champions League next season.