Barcelona attacker: “Tuchel is my favourite coach wish to play under him”
Barcelona attacker Ousmane Dembele has declared Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel the best coach he’s worked with.
The pair were together at Borussia Dortmund for one season after Dembele was snapped up from Rennes.
The France World Cup winner has gone on to play for the likes of Ronald Koeman, Didier Deschamps and Ernesto Valverde, but says the the coach whom he learned most from and enjoyed playing for was Tuchel.
Quoted by Le 10 Sport, Dembele told Be inSport: “Thomas Tuchel really convinced me. He’s my favourite trainer too. With Thomas Tuchel I played a little more on the right side at the start of the season, and then he refocused me in the axis at the No10 and sometimes even in the middle of three.
“He was telling me to stay a little in the middle of the field, to take the espresso, and the ball will come and there you go. Would I have stayed in Dortmund if Thomas Tuchel had not left? It would have been hard to leave Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel would have held onto me.”
With Borussia Dortmund, Dembele enjoyed a stellar year, playing 50 games, scoring 10 goals and producing an outstanding 22 assists. He eventually forced through a move to Barcelona in 2017, signing for the Catalans for a fee of €105 million plus a further €40 million due in bonuses.
Dembele is producing career best form with Barca this season, scoring ten goals and producing four assists in 37 games. He has a contract to 2022.