Lothar Matthaus reveals ex-Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel was ‘close to joining Juventus’ before Bayern Munich panicked and swooped in early.
Tuchel had started the season at Chelsea, joining the club in January 2021, before he was unceremoniously sacked in September 2022.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain boss wasn’t out of work for long, as Bayern Munich fired Julian Nagelsmann to bring in Tuchel on March 25.
According to Matthaus, that decision was rushed in large part due to the competition from Juventus.
“Tuchel was close to joining Juventus and Bayern were getting nervous,” Matthaus told Goal.com Germany.
“Tuchel was free and Bayern did not believe 100 per cent in Nagelsmann. They couldn’t fire him after winning three titles, so they decided to do it earlier instead.
“I honestly thought it was a joke when I heard they’d sacked Nagelsmann, but it wasn’t April 1 yet.”
Tuchel had indeed been linked with Juve in January and when the trigger was pulled by Bayern Munich in late March, the Bianconeri had been stuttering under Max Allegri.
The Serie A giants weren’t the only ones showing an interest in Tuchel’s services after the Chelsea dismissal, as Tottenham Hotspur also considered him as one of the replacements when Antonio Conte terminated his contract by mutual consent in March.