Thomas Tuchel’s reason for snubbing Manchester United in favor of England job revealed: Reports
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel reportedly snubbed the Manchester United job to take over as England boss in January 2025. This is according to a report from The Times, who claim that the German coach was the first option to take over from Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford (via Football Transfers).
The Dutch tactician is under pressure, with Manchester United not enjoying the best of starts to the 2024/25 campaign. The Red Devils are placed 14th in the Premier League standings, having registered just eight points in their first seven English top-flight matches.
However, amid uncertainty over when Ten Hag would lose his job, Tuchel decided to undertake the responsibility of The Three Lions. It is believed that interim boss Lee Carsley would move back to coaching the England under-21s after the 51-year-old comes into the setup.
While Tuchel's future seems certain, Ten Hag's career in Manchester hangs in the balance. According to the aforementioned report, the former Ajax manager has until the next international break in November to save his job.
Until the next break, the Red Devils play four Premier League matches against Brentford, West Ham United, Chelsea, and Leicester City. They also have a couple of Europa League ties, where they face Fenerbahce and PAOK. Manchester United's final game in this phase is a Round-of-16 Carabao Cup fixture against the Foxes.
Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022 and has remained in charge for 125 matches across competitions. He's delivered an FA Cup and a Carabao Cup each to Red Devils fans.
Manchester United were in contact with a German coach in the summer who is not Thomas Tuchel - Reports
While Manchester United's conversations with Thomas Tuchel have been well reported, it has been revealed that the Red Devils were looking at other German options. According to reports from Germany, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co. spoke with current Stuttgart manager Sebastian Hoeness (via Mirror).
Ten Hag's job has been in jeopardy for a while now, and the situation was the same in the summer after his team finished eighth in the Premier League. However, he delivered an FA Cup trophy at the end of the campaign, which could have saved his job.
Hoeness was approached by Manchester United after he led his German team to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga last season. He took over at Stuttgart in April 2023 and is contracted with the club till the summer of 2027.