Wherever Chelsea goes from here, Julian Nagelsmann will not be a part of it; the highly-touted 35-year-old has officially pulled himself out of the race to be the next man to step into the managerial breach at Stamford Bridge.
According to reports from football insider Fabrizio Romano, the former Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim head trainer decided to step away from discussions with the English giants after multiple rounds of talks with the West London side despite being widely viewed as a leading candidate for the position.
EXCLUSIVE: Julian Nagelsmann has now withdrawn from the race to become the new Chelsea head coach — it looks like it’s his final decision. 🚨🔵 #CFC
German coach is said to be no longer available after multiple round of talks.
Nagelsmann was top candidate for the job. pic.twitter.com/vkU5zcxISH
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 21, 2023
Questions surrounding his own future are sure to persist, with links with potential summer vacancies at both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain sure to gain steam over the coming weeks as the business end of the 2022-23 campaign across the continent edges closer to completion.
But conflicting reports from multiple outlets suggest another story regarding Chelsea’s pursuit of the German, as both CBSSports’ Ben Jacobs and SkySports paint a different picture.
According to Jacobs, “Chelsea never crowned him, or any other singular candidate, as favorite. But feeling was Nagelsmann wanted a procession, not a process. Skepticism about Nagelsmann following due diligence. Nagelsmann was viewed as a strong candidate, and always part of Chelsea’s thinking, but club made it clear to him (and all candidates) there was process. There would be no managerial corronation. Understand feedback on Nagelsmann was also mixed, even negative in some quarters.”
SkySports offered a similar report; “Although Chelsea held talks with him, he was not the preferred candidate and he was never regarded as the favourite.”
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