Former RB Leipzig manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed his reasons for rejecting the Chelsea job despite telling the Blues he would love to come to Stamford Bridge.
The highly-regarded German tactician was seemingly under consideration at Chelsea when they recently sacked Frank Lampard, though they ended up bringing in former Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel instead.
MORE: Chelsea star already wants to leave after Tuchel snub
Tuchel looks a fine appointment, but Rangnick would also have been interesting to see at Chelsea, though it seems he was not at all keen on the idea of only coming in on a short-term deal to be the club’s interim manager.
Speaking to the Times about turning down Chelsea, he said: “I said, ‘I would love to come and work with you, but I cannot do it for four months. I am not an interim coach.’
“To the media and players you would be the ‘four-month manager’, a lame duck, from day one.”
The west London giants may well live to regret that they didn’t offer Rangnick something more long-term, but for now they’ll surely be happy enough with Tuchel after his strong start in the CFC dugout.
Tuchel has quickly appeared to improve the team’s form and morale after a tough start to the season under Lampard.
Rangnick himself was full of praise for Tuchel, saying: “If you watch Chelsea now you see a mutual plan for when they have the ball or the other team have the ball. Thomas is tactically on a very sophisticated level.
“Zsolt Low [Tuchel’s No 2] was my player and assistant coach at Leipzig and plays a vital role in his staff and you can see from the way he interacts with players Thomas also has great leadership skills. Appointing him was a top solution. I can only congratulate Thomas and Chelsea for the choice.”