New Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel admitted that he is trying to convince Chelsea coach Anthony Barry to join him in Germany.
The former Blues manager is finally back in football management, although very few expected his next job would be at Bayern.
His predecessor Julian Nagelsmann led Bayern to the Champions League quarter-finals and second place in Bundesliga, just one point behind Borussia Dortmund, so his sacking came as a surprise to many.
Even Tuchel himself did not expect the sudden offer from Bayern, which did not give him enough time to finalise his coaching team.
He hopes that Barry, whom he worked with at Chelsea, would be on this team.
“Neither I, nor my coaching team were prepared for this,” Tuchel said about his appointment at Bayern in Saturday’s press conference (via Spox).
“A big thanks to the flexibility and craziness of my co-coaches’ families. Zsolt Löw and Arno Michels will be there.
“We hope to add Anthony Barry, who is still under contract with Chelsea, because it is my absolute wish.”
Barry joined Chelsea when Frank Lampard was still in charge in the summer of 2020 after previously working as an assistant to Paul Cook at Wigan.
Following Lampard’s departure, Barry stayed at Chelsea and worked under Tuchel and then Graham Potter.
Barry is initially a defensive coach but in later years, he has also had reputation for his expertise in set-pieces.
The 36-year-old’s coaching abilities is clearly widely admired considering he recently worked in a dual role for the Belgium national team and this month, he accepted an offer to be a coach for Portugal.
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