Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, the club has confirmed.
On Wednesday morning, Sky Sports Germany reported that the Bundesliga champions would be parting ways with the 50-year-old.
This was soon confirmed by Bayern, who said the decision had been taken after “a constructive discussion” between Tuchel and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen.
In a statement, Tuchel said: “We have agreed that we will end our working relationship at the end of this season. Until then, I will of course continue to do everything I can with my coaching staff to achieve maximum success.”
Dreesen said: “In a good, open discussion, we came to the decision to end our working relationship by mutual agreement in the summer. Our goal is to pursue a new footballing direction with a new head coach for the 2024 /25 season.
“Until then, every individual at the club is expressly called upon to achieve the maximum possible in the Champions League and Bundesliga. I also explicitly hold the team accountable in this regard.
” In the Champions League in particular, after losing 1-0 in the first leg at Lazio, we are convinced we will reach the quarter-finals at a packed Allianz Arena with our fans behind us.”
The news of Tuchel’s departure comes after Bayern suffered three consecutive defeats last week, including a humiliating 3-0 loss at Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
This has left them eight points adrift of Xabi Alonso’s side, and at serious risk of missing out on the league title for the first time since 2012.
The 2011/12 season was also the last trophyless season Bayern experienced, something there is a real prospect of them repeating this year.
Tuchel joined the German giants as manager in March last year, and managed to guide the side to an 11th consecutive league title on a dramatic final day.
As is always the case at Bayern, the league title was expected as an absolute minimum going into this season, especially after the headline signing of Harry Kane over the summer.
But whilst the England striker has been in some of the best form of his career, already racking up 25 goals and breaking numerous goal-scoring records this season, Tuchel’s side have been blindsided by an outstanding Leverkusen side.
Managed by Alonso, Leverkusen have yet to lose this season, winning 18 of their 22 league games and well on-course for their first ever Bundesliga title.
This week, rumours have swirled around potential replacements for Tuchel, with the likes of Alonso, Zinedine Zidane and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly being considered to take over from the German.
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