Thomas Tuchel taking huge pay cut from Chelsea wages to become England manager

Thomas Tuchel will be confirmed as England’s new manager at a press conference on Wednesday, with the former Chelsea boss accepting an offer from the FA and returning to London

Thomas Tuchel will earn just half of his old salary at Chelsea when he takes over as England manager next year.

Tuchel, 51, has agreed to become the Three Lions’ next boss, starting work on January 1 after agreeing an 18-month contract. England under-21 head coach Lee Carsley has been in charge on an interim basis since September and will complete his duties by overseeing England’s final two Nations League group fixtures next month.

In March, England will play either a two-legged play-off for promotion in the Nations League or their first two World Cup qualifying matches. Those games will be Tuchel’s first as manager, having been out of work since May when he left Bayern Munich.

The German spent just over a year back in his homeland, winning the 2023 Bundesliga title before surrendering it during his only full season in charge. Tuchel, who’ll face the media at 1:30pm on Wednesday, joined Bayern after he was ruthlessly sacked by Chelsea in September 2022, having failed to strike up a healthy relationship with the club’s new owners.

The 51-year-old is no stranger to acrimonious exits, with boardroom fallouts having also led to his departures from Mainz and Borussia Dortmund in Germany, and later French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea had to shell out a hefty compensation package to dismiss Tuchel, who earned £10million per year at Stamford Bridge.

After taking the England job, he’ll earn £5m annually. His predecessor, Gareth Southgate, started on around £1.6m per annum but that figure rose closer to £6m during his eight years in the Wembley dugout, reaching two European Championship finals in that time.

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Tuchel will become only the third foreign manager in England’s history, all of whom have come this century. Sven-Goran Eriksson took charge of the Three Lions from 2001 to 2006 and Fabio Capello’s spell lasted from 2007 to 2012. England failed to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament under either coach, unlike on three occasions under Southgate.

The draw for the World Cup qualifiers takes place in Geneva on Friday, December 13, but will look very different to previous years. The expanded Nations League format means that final composition of the World Cup groups won’t be known when qualifying begins in March, as eight groups will have an ‘either/or’ where a Nations League quarter-finalist has been drawn.

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