Thomas Tuchel has opened up on the "hurtful" nature of his Chelsea exit after revealing he was sacked following a brief three-minute meeting with co-owner Todd Boehly.
Tuchel was confirmed as Bayern Munich's new head coach last week six months after he was dismissed from his post at Stamford Bridge.
At the time, the decision to part company with the German, who won the Champions League shortly after replacing former Blues favourite Frank Lampard, appeared to be a harsh one. And the 49-year-old has now broken his silence on the brutal meeting that ended his Chelsea tenure.
The Bayern boss told The Daily Mail : "It was a shock. I felt it, strangely, when I drove to the training centre. The meeting we had felt unusual – and it turned out to be a very short meeting. It was 8am, or something, and it lasted three to five minutes. I was also not in the mood to talk longer.
"The decision had been made and, honestly, it was a shock for all of us. We had a feeling that we were in the right spot at the right time. We felt that we could achieve big things and we wanted to stay longer – it was as simple as that."
Reports earlier this week claimed that Chelsea were 'disappointed' with their former boss after Tuchel publicly admitted that he wanted to prise assistant coach Anthony Barry away from Stamford Bridge in order to join his new-look Bayern coaching team.
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And he explained that he still has a close relationship with plenty of Blues' staff members. He continued: "We had big relationships, huge relationships within the staff. We still do. How long did it take me to get over? It still hurts in a way – I’m not able to see these people on a daily basis. I love this job: I have a passion for it, I can tell you.
"We built an extraordinary bond in the circumstances. We started there during Covid, during Brexit – then came the change of ownership. We were a strong, strong group (at Cobham). It wasn’t in my hands to take this decision. I was no longer part of this group, a group that felt like a family."
After sacking Tuchel, Chelsea shelled out around £21.5m in compensation to acquire the services of Graham Potter and several members of his backroom staff from Brighton.
To date, the former Seagulls chief has endured a rough time since stepping up at the club and was under significant pressure as recently as last month following a rotten run of form. But recent results - including victory in the Champions League Round of 16 against Borussia Dortmund - has eased pressure on Potter.