Thomas Tuchel has left his position as manager of Borussia Dortmund.
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Tuchel, 43, is considered as one of the brightest young managers in the German game but with Dortmund scrambling to a third-place finish this season and not showing real signs of progress from 2015-16, especially defensively, the club and Tuchel have agreed to mutually part ways.
In a statement Dortmund did not reveal the reason for Tuchel moving on, simply stating that they “went their separate ways” after two years together.
Dortmund did win the German cup, the DFB Pokal, at the weekend, beating Eintracht Frankfurt in the final, and over the past two seasons Tuchel has led BVB to second-place and third-place finishes in the Bundesliga, as well as appearing in the German cup final in both seasons.
He led Dortmund to the UEFA Europa League quarterfinal in 2015-16, where he lost to former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, and Dortmund then lost to AS Monaco in the quarterfinal of the UEFA Champions League this season following an attack on their team bus before the first leg which understandably shook his team.
Now that Tuchel has gone, many are suggesting that he could arrive in England at Arsenal with the Gunners previously linked to the German coach.
In the past Tuchel hasn’t exactly brushed off speculation about him heading to manage in England one day, playing it cool when asked in February about reports linking him to Arsenal: “You know more than I do,” was his response.
With Arsene Wenger’s future set to be announced publicly on Wednesday, following a board meeting on Tuesday, it appears that Wenger and Stan Kroenke have already made a decision about what the Frenchman does next.
It would appear a long-shot that Tuchel, a manager who was given plenty of resources at Dortmund but finished third this season, would get the job, especially after Wenger won the FA Cup and finished the season strongly with Arsenal despite failing to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League next season.
That said, Tuchel created a fast, young, attack-minded team at Dortmund which is something the Arsenal board may be impressed by.
Given the success of German managers in England over the past few years -- Klopp at Liverpool and now Wagner at Huddersfield to name two men with previous connections to Dortmund -- perhaps Arsenal now see this as the perfect time to go for Tuchel.
Wenger is still the favorite to be in charge of Arsenal on Aug. 12 when the 2017-18 kicks off, but maybe there’s a chance the Gunners take a chance on the highly-regarded Tuchel.