New England manager Thomas Tuchel has been permitted to travel back and forth to Germany by the FA despite it meaning he is missing domestic action. Tuchel was confirmed as Gareth Southgate’s successor last October, but didn’t officially begin his tenure until January.
The 51-year-old has been handed an 18-month contract with a £5million salary, and been given the brief to win the 2026 World Cup.
However, despite being in his role less than two months, he’s reportedly already missed three Premier League weekends, the third round of the FA Cup and all four Carabao Cup semi-final matches.
According to The Times, Tuchel has been granted special dispensation to return back to Germany to see the two children he has with his ex-wife. That’s despite the trips limiting the amount of time he will get assessing potential England squad members.
Tuchel is so far said to have watched 17 matches at home and abroad in his first 47 days in charge, and was at the Etihad for Manchester City’s Champions League game with Real Madrid on Tuesday. He started his reign by watching the Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle clash on January 4.
The ex-Chelsea boss has attended games abroad, and on February 2 attended the Milan derby to seemingly watch Kyle Walker. He was also in Madrid the following Saturday, February 8, to watch Jude Bellingham play for Real while Conor Gallagher was on the bench for Atletico.
Last Friday, he was t Brighton’s 3-0 win over Chelsea, but returned to Germany the following day. He then watched Harry Kane play for his former side, ,Bayern Munich away against Bayer Leverkusen.
Last month, Tuchel did travel to Zurich to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw. And at the event he outlined his intentions to “watch live games and get in touch with players,” and was aksed how often he would visit the FA base in St George’s Park.
“Very regularly, this our home, this is our base,” he told talkSPORT. “I will be there otherwise we cannot create the atmopshere that is needed for the 18 months we have together. I’m happy to be there. We have an excellent infrastructure.”
Tuchel’s first game in charge of England will come on Friday, March 21, in their opening World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley. Just three days later the Three Lions host Latvia, and the new boss will be expected to take six points from the two matches.
Andorra and Serbia are the other teams to make up Group K. The top team from each group qualifies automatically for the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and America, with the runners-up going into the play-offs.
