New Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel admits that he made up his mind about joining the Parisians even before Arsene Wenger announced his departure from Arsenal.
Tuchel replaced Unai Emery as the PSG coach and the Spaniard went onto become the manager Arsenal, replacing Wenger, who left the club after 22 years in charge.
The former Dortmund coach was on the shortlist of names Arsenal were keeping tabs as Wenger’s replacement and German was strongly linked with a move to the north London club.
However, the German indicated that the talks with Arsenal were never concrete and stressed that he made up his mind about becoming the PSG coach even before Wenger left Arsenal.
Asked about his link with Arsenal, Tuchel said in a press conference: “I made up my mind about joining Paris Saint-Germain even before Wenger left.
“I never had too much contact with Arsenal.”
Arsenal and PSG will square off in a pre-season friendly on Saturday at the Singapore National Stadium.
Tuchel is tasked with improving PSG’s performances in the Champions League, while Emery will be expected to lead Arsenal back into the top four after finishing outside it for two seasons running.
