Thomas Tuchel returns to Chelsea for £1 million after a training-ground suspension.
Anthony Barry, the Chelsea assistant coach, had been sought after by Thomas Tuchel since he was appointed manager of Bayern Munich, and after difficult talks, the two have been reunited.
Chelsea has finally consented to a £1 million contract that will allow highly regarded coach Anthony Barry to work alongside former Blues manager Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
The news comes as a welcome relief for Tuchel, whose Bayern team was eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday after losing 4-1 on aggregate to an out-of-control Manchester City. Between February 2021 and September 2022, when Barry was Chelsea's manager for 19 months and the Blues famously won the European Championship, Barry collaborated with the German tactician.
Now that Julian Nagelsmann has been replaced by Tuchel and is a target for Chelsea in their quest for a new manager, the two are ready to be reunited in Bavaria. Barry was instructed to remain away from Chelsea's practice facility during the tense negotiations since the former Blues manager made it obvious right away that he wanted to hire him.
The Times was the first to disclose that Bayern had agreed to pay Chelsea a £1 million compensation fee in exchange for Barry's coveted services. The Liverpool-born coach had a successful playing career in England's lower divisions, but he retired at the age of 31 after being released by Wrexham in 2017.
Barry joined Chelsea in the summer of 2020 after spending three years with Paul Cook at Wigan Athletic. A few months later, he became a part-time member of the coaching staff for the Republic of Ireland, assisting Stephen Kenny in introducing a fun style of play.
After spending a year with Ireland, Barry joined Roberto Martinez's team in Belgium and later accompanied him to the Portugal national team earlier this year. The 36-year-old is anticipated to balance his responsibilities for Portugal with his new position at Bayern.
As the German powerhouses concentrate all of their energies on capturing the Bundesliga championship for an 11th consecutive year, Tuchel will be keen for Barry to have a quick impact. Bayern's second-leg loss to City on Wednesday was even more detrimental to their disappointing season because Bayern is already out of the DFB-Pokal.
After the 1-1 tie at the Allianz Arena, Tuchel attempted to uplift the crowd by saying, "We had them on the ropes twice, tonight more so than in Manchester. Over the 180 minutes, however, we had no luck. I was quite delighted with how we played today and how we played versus City. The top squad in Europe at the time and we faced off.
With six games left, Bayern presently leads title-rival Borussia Dortmund by two points. Although Bayern has only managed one of the last five matches, Tuchel led the Bavarians to a 4-2 triumph against Dortmund earlier this month.
