Thomas Tuchel will reportedly receive an eye-watering £13million payout after being unceremoniously sacked by Chelsea.
The 49-year-old coach was axed by new Blues owner Todd Boehly in cut-throat fashion, reminiscent of how ex-head honcho Roman Abramovich would brutally give managers the chop during his reign. Tuchel's departure came after he guided Chelsea to just three wins in their opening seven fixtures this season following a summer of upheaval and uncertainty at Stamford Bridge.
Tuesday's dismal 1-0 defeat away to Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League group-stage opener put the nail in the German's coffin. After pulling the trigger, Boehly moved quickly to find a successor and the American tycoon has already received permission from Brighton to hold talks with their boss, Graham Potter.
As for the Englishman's potential predecessor, he at least won't be out of pocket as well as unemployed. The Daily Mail claims that Tuchel will receive a cool £13m for vacating the Stamford Bridge dugout, while his coaching staff are set to be given a combined sum of £2m.
The Blues' new hierarchy - spearheaded by Boehly - has only been in place for 100 days, but they've already made an early power move by deciding to relieve Tuchel on his duties. It's understood that tensions had been rising behind the scenes ever since the club's £4.25billion takeover in May, as a host of figures who Tuchel had good relationships with departed.
During a £270m summer spending spree, the ex- Borussia Dortmund boss was involved in the hunt for new players as Boehly assigned himself as the club's temporary sporting director following the exit of former transfer chief Marina Granovskaia, Abramovich's trusted aide.
Tuchel publicly admitted that he didn't enjoy the off-pitch role, preferring to concentrate his efforts on coaching. But he'd soon be afford neither privilege after shambolic loss to Zagreb. The Sun reports that Chelsea's now former manager unknowingly arrived at the club's Cobham training ground on Wednesday morning for a post-mortem of the Blues' nightmare trip to Croatia.
However, no one was there to greet him and Tuchel was instead ordered to attend a conference call with his superiors. During the 10-minute call, the under-fire gaffer is said to have pleaded to keep his job, but Boehly and Co. had already made up their minds and Tuchel was told to pack his things.
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The ruthless sacking comes less than a month after Tuchel confirmed reports that he was in talks over a new contract. Instead, the board have pulled the plug on his current deal, which was set to expire at the end of the season.
He'll receive £13m-a-year salary sooner than he'd hoped for, having made Chelsea the European and world champions since replacing Blues legend Frank Lampard 21 months ago. Winning 60 of his 100 games in charge, Tuchel will leave West London safe in the knowledge that he won't be short of job offers in the near future.
