Thomas Tuchel set to raid former club Chelsea for key figure as first statement of Bayern Munich reign

Thomas Tuchel is keen to bring highly-rated Chelsea and Portugal coach Anthony Barry to Bayern Munich, according to reports. 

The German coach was announced as the new manager of the Bundesliga giants on Thursday and bringing in a key member of the Blues’ backroom staff would be a big statement of intent.

Bayern Munich is a club that demands major trophies and Tuchel’s previous partnership with Barry certainly did just that.

Indeed, the 49-year-old manager worked closely with Barry during his successful one-year stint at Stamford Bridge, where he delivered three major trophies.

Tuchel rates the former midfielder ‘extremely highly’ and would love to work with him again at the Allianz Arena.

Interestingly, another former Blues boss, Frank Lampard, also attempted to lure the coach to Everton during his time at Goodison Park, so he is clearly very highly thought of by everyone involved with the club.

However, it remains to be seen whether Barry would entertain the move, or, indeed, if Chelsea would allow such negotiations to take place.

Tuchel to reunite with former Chelsea staff at Bayern
Barry, who played for Wrexham and Accrington Stanley during his playing career, joined Chelsea as a first-team coach in 2020 after working for three years as an assistant to former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Cook.

The 36-year-old has also worked on the coaching teams for both the Republic of Ireland and Belgium national sides and now works with Portugal, as well as Chelsea.

Barry initially joined Chelsea as part of Frank Lampard’s backroom staff and is now an integral member of Graham Potter’s team.

Now, he could be in line for a reunion with Tuchel, who will be joined at Bayern by Zsolt Low – his former assistant at Chelsea – and Arno Michels, who also worked closely with Tuchel during his time at Stamford Bridge.

The German club are currently in the midst of a heated title race, with Tuchel set to face Bundesliga league leaders and former club Borussia Dortmund in his first game, which will prove to be a challenge.

If Bayern can win the crucial match, they will go two points clear at the top of the table, but if they lose, they will have a four-point gap to close with only 12 games remaining in the season.

Following that, Bayern will face Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals – a competition which Tuchel won during his short reign at Chelsea.

Ironically, Tuchel and Barry could then potentially face the Blues in the semi-finals, if the coach does decide to join him in Germany.