New England manager, Thomas Tuchel, has been effusive of his praise for Declan Rice and stated that he had plans of signing the midfielder when he was still Chelsea’s manager.
According to this article from the Telegraph dated as far back as 2021, Tuchel had revived Chelsea’s plans to sign Rice from West Ham, after plans waned off following Frank Lampard’s unceremonious departure from the club. Tuchel was even planning to use Tammy Abraham as a make-weight for the deal, but West Ham and Chelsea failed to come to terms on an agreement, and the move never materialized.
Rice stayed at West Ham for a couple of more seasons before joining Arsenal for the British record transfer fee, while Tuchel was sacked from Chelsea, joined Bayern Munich not long after and departed the Bavarians after a shoddy campaign.
Tuchel will finally get a chance to manage Rice
Tuchel has always been a huge fan of Rice and his words quoted in the Evening Standard echoed his sentiments,
“Declan is an important member of the England team, so it speaks for itself. Very strong in build-up, very intelligent in passing.”
Tuchel commences the job full time in 2025 and will spearhead England’s charge for World Cup glory with the qualifiers taking center stage in 2025 and early 2026. Rice will be a vital cog in the England engine room and the onus will be on the new gaffer to bring the best out of his lads.
Gareth Southgate wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but he performed amazingly for England, securing back-to-back final places in the European Championships, as well as a semifinal berth in the FIFA World Cup. Tuchel will have his hands full eclipsing that and he will need the likes of Rice and co. to come up with the goods when they are summoned to represent the Three Lions.