Julian Nagelsmann’s agent Volker Struth has taken a dig at Chelsea and disclosed why the German manager turned down the club’s vacant managerial post.
The 35-year-old former Bayern Munich manager stepped down from the running for the Chelsea job last month, following a string of talks.
Agent Volker Struth believes that former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is Chelsea’s backup plan despite the club’s recent agreement to hire the Argentine this summer.
Despite denials from the West London club, Julian Nagelsmann’s agent claimed that Chelsea considered Nagelsmann their top choice to replace Graham Potter who was sacked in April.
The agent was also quite supportive of Nagelsmann’s decision to end talks with the Blues.
Speaking to reporters the Julian Nagelsmann’s agent said, “I can confirm that Chelsea were quick to call (following his sacking from Bayern Munich in March). There were some phone conversations”.
“It was the right decision not to go there. It’s a club in troubled waters at the moment. And their transfer policy, spending a few hundred million euros, has raised expectations that need to be met. There were also some other issues”.
He added; “He was their No.1 choice, that was our information. I believe it would have happened if he had wanted it”.
Reportedly, Chelsea’s interest in the young German coach has led them to abandon their pursuit of Luis Enrique.
Upon Nagelsmann’s withdrawal from negotiations, Chelsea reiterated that they had not yet decided on a preferred manager and that he had never been their absolute favorite choice.
Aside from that, Nagelsmann is no longer a candidate to lead Tottenham as their manager.
After discussions with co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, Mauricio Pochettino is expected to finalize his move to Chelsea this week on a three-year deal.
Chelsea and Pochettino have reached an agreement on the conditions of a deal, and the former Spurs manager is already collaborating with the Blues on potential summer transfer targets.
The 51-year-old is in for a busy summer, as he will be in charge of a major roster overhaul that will certainly result in the departure of several key players.
This summer will be pivotal for Chelsea, therefore he won’t waste any time getting started on next season’s strategy.
Who’s Julian Nagelsmann?
Julian Nagelsmann (born 23 July 1987) is a former football player and German professional football manager.
Julian Nagelsmann age;
Nagelsmann was born on the 23rd of July 1987, in Landsberg am Lech, West Germany.
Julian Nagelsmann’s career;
After suffering a series of injuries as a player, Nagelsmann called it quits at the age of 20 and began teaching young teams in 2010.
He was promoted to head coach of Hoffenheim’s senior squad in 2015 and guided them to a third-place finish in the Bundesliga and qualification for the Champions League.
In 2020, under his leadership, RB Leipzig advanced to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after he left Hoffenheim in 2019.
Bayern Munich hired Nagelsmann in 2021 for a then-record €25 million (£21.7 million) managerial transfer, making him the most expensive manager in history.
In his first year as manager, he won the Bundesliga championship, but he was fired in March of 2023.
He is known for his ability to switch formations on the go, keep the ball in play, and apply gegenpress, a strategy in which a team immediately presses after losing possession to regain control rather than regaining ground and regrouping.
Many in the footballing world rank Nagelsmann as one of the top up-and-coming managers in the game.
