While admitting that his club was in fact interested in acquiring Borussia Dortmund scoring sensation Erling Haaland this past summer, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel attempted to play down his remarks about that pursuit.
Tuchel spoke with SportBild after the German newspaper honored him with their Coach of the Year award. Tuchel says he “fell into a trap” when the answered their Haaland question, and that he was “making fun about” the transfer saga.
It’s reportedly a very touchy subject at Dortmund, who were not exactly thrilled about these comments. Understandable, as the Norwegian superstar in the making could leave next summer if Manchester City (who didn’t get Harry Kane like they wanted) or a different team activates his 75 million Euro release clause.
It almost certainly will not be Chelsea, who moved on from Haaland this summer to sign Romelu Lukaku, bringing him back after seven years. The German was laughing about the concept of Lukaku and Haaland playing together.
“I fell into a trap. I got an award in Germany,” Tuchel said.
“I got an award from a newspaper and they asked me about a player.
“Normally I never, never speak about other players because simply I never, ever do. Then we were making more or less fun about it. I should have known better because [I was] making fun about it and being a nice guy and answering a question instead of ‘no, I don’t want to answer a question’.
“Getting this award and I joke about a double striker with Romelu in October and then it gets like we put in an offer. That was the context but OK, I should have known better.”
Tuchel made these remarks ahead of the weekend winner over lowly Norwich City.
He has a great point- nothing ever good usually comes from a manager talking about another team’s players. This is especially true when the it’s a player that the manager’s team was trying to acquire.
Chelsea didn’t have Haaland of course, but they also didn’t Lukaku, nor Timo Werner nor Christian Pulisic, but they still scored seven.
Yes, seven! as they crushed the Canaries who look absolutely destined for relegation. Chelsea got a hat trick from Mason Mount, as well as goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ben Chilwell, Reece James and an own goal from Norwich’s Max Aarons.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.