Why I sacked Tuchel – Chelsea owner

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has lifted the lid on Thomas Tuchel’s bombshell sacking by revealing the German did not share his vision for the future of the club.

The American billionaire spoke candidly about their shock decision to axe the 49-year-old just seven days after the transfer window.

The 48-year-old, along with co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano, made the shock decision to sack Tuchel just seven days after the transfer window had ended, and the club had spent a record £272million.

Tuchel’s departure came hours after a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

But the American businessman said the decision was not down to the defeat and that the club’s senior management had already decided to replace Tuchel just five months after completing their £4.25bn takeover in May.

‘When you take over any business, you have to make sure you are aligned with the people in the business, and Tuchel is obviously extremely talented and obviously someone who had great success with Chelsea,’ Boehly said, speaking at the SALT Conference in the United States.

‘Our vision for the club was to find a manager who really wanted to collaborate with us, a coach who really wanted to collaborate.

‘There are a lot of walls to break down at Chelsea. Before, the first team and academy didn’t really share data, didn’t share information about where the top players were coming from. Our goal is to bring a team together; all of that needs to be a well-oiled machine.

‘The reality of our decision was that we weren’t sure that Thomas saw it the same way we saw it. No one is right or wrong, we just didn’t have a shared vision for the future. It wasn’t about Zagreb, it was about the shared vision for what we wanted Chelsea to look like.

‘It wasn’t a decision that was made because of a single win or loss. It was a decision that we thought was the right vision for the club.’

Tuchel was axed last Wednesday, just seven games into the season, after Chelsea’s new owners opted to change manager following the assessments they made during the first 100 days of their ownership.

‘This is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to write – and it is one I hoped I would not need to do for many years. I am devastated that my time at Chelsea has come to an end,’ Tuchel said.

‘This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. Thank you so much to all the staff, the players and the supporters for making me feel very welcome from the start.

‘The pride and joy I felt at helping the team to win the Champions League and the Club World Cup will stay with me forever.’