>
REVEALED: Thomas Tuchel ‘did not agree with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali’s belief that Chelsea needed midfield signings’, before moving on to Enzo Fernández for £107m after sacking manager
- Thomas Tuchel reportedly clashed with Chelsea bosses over midfielder signing
- He felt the Blues were well supplied, but Todd Boehly wanted to strengthen
- The German was later sacked before Chelsea signed Enzo Fernández for £107m.
Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel reportedly disagreed with owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali over the need to sign new midfielders, before the German was sacked and the club moved to sign Enzo. Fernandez for £107 million.
Fernández became the record British transfer buy after he finally completed his move to Stamford Bridge from Benfica to cap a spending frenzy of around £300m from the Blues in January alone.
Boehly has wasted no time stamping his mark on the club since his £4bn takeover from Roman Abramovich in May 2022, spending around £500m on 15 new players.
But he and co-owner Eghbali disagreed with Tuchel over certain transfers, with a report from The times claiming that the German was opposed to the club bringing in a new midfielder at the time.
After Boehly took control at Chelsea, he began mapping out which positions he wanted to strengthen and consulted with Tuchel, the report states.
Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has reportedly clashed with bosses over signing a midfielder.
Owners Todd Boehly (R) and Behdad Eghbali (L) highlighted the midfield as an area to strengthen
But after identifying midfield as an area that needed strengthening, Tuchel said he felt he was well-equipped with N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovavic, Jorginho and the return of Conor Gallager.
Instead, he wanted to focus on improving the defense after having lost Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona, the report continues, and Boehly duly fulfilled his wish by bringing in Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and Wesley Fofana from leicester.
But then the American decided to act and brought Denis Zakaria on loan on deadline day. It has been reported that Tuchel did not have any input on the midfielder’s arrival and did not even acknowledge him when he arrived at training.
By this time, Tuchel’s future was already decided and he was sacked just a week after Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
After naming Potter as his successor, Boehly would sign another central midfielder in teenager Andrey Santos before spending most of January securing a record deal for Fernández, who was signed after Chelsea sold Jorginho to Arsenal for £12 million.
The Times claims that Fernández was identified as the man they were looking for after the World Cup final, where he shone for Argentina to help them lift the trophy after beating France on penalties, and had a ‘clear’ determination to sign him.
Tuchel, who is still searching for his next job, spent 18 months at Chelsea and managed to win the Champions League during that time.
His successor, Potter, has fared no better with the team languishing in tenth place, though he hopes the club’s spending on newcomers in January can catapult his side up the table.
The Blues would go on to sack Tuchel before spending £107m on Enzo Fernández
Chelsea also signed Denis Zakaria without Tuchel’s nod before naming Graham Potter (L)
Enzo will be key to those hopes with fans optimistic that he can provide a quality injection to propel the Blues forward.
Speaking after signing an eight-and-a-half-year deal, Fernandez said: “I’m grateful to Chelsea and their estate for doing everything they could to make me a part of this project.
I am happy and excited to join the Pride of London, play in the best league in the world and compete for the biggest trophies.
“I can’t wait to play in front of our fans and help my teammates on and off the pitch.”