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Thomas Tuchel has a signed a deal to become the next manager of the England men’s football team.

The German is expected to be officially unveiled on Wednesday following Gareth Southgate’s resignation after Euro 2024, with Lee Carsley having taken temporary charge since then.

Tuchel is perhaps best known in the UK for being the former Chelsea manager. But his stint in west London was just one small part of his story.

Growing up in Germany

The 51-year-old is only the third foreign manager in the history of the England men’s football team – and the first German to take charge.

He follows in the footsteps of the late Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swede who managed England from 2001 to 2006, and Italy’s Fabio Capello who led the Three Lions from 2007 to 2012.

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Harry Kane: ‘I know Thomas well’

Tuchel grew up in the small town of Krumbach, Bavaria, in 1970s West Germany and showed a talent for football from a young age.

Despite originally wanting to be a helicopter pilot, the young defender’s skill marked him out as the best player in his school – which he helped to win the German Schools Championship in Berlin in 1987.

Injury ends playing career in his 20s

Within a year, the teenager was snapped up by FC Augsburg at the Bundesliga side’s youth academy.

However, despite his promising start, he was released from the club aged 19 without ever making a first-team appearance.

Tuchel was then signed by Stuttgarter Kickers, then in the Bundesliga 2. He managed only eight appearances before moving down to SSV Ulm in Germany’s third-tier.

His career there was given a boost when a young man called Ralf Rangnick – who would later go on to temporarily manage Manchester United – was appointed the club’s manager.

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick on the touchline during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Picture date: Sunday December 5, 2021.
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Former interim Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick helped Tuchel in his early coaching career. Pic: PA

Tuchel made a total of 68 appearances for the side, based in southwest Germany, and contributed to their promotion to Bundesliga 2.

However, his dreams were dealt another blow when a chronic knee injury forced him into an early retirement from playing in his mid-20s in 1998.

University studies

After leaving the field of play, Tuchel did not jump straight into management. Instead, he decided to go to university, where he studied business administration, while also working as a waiter in a bar to help pay the bills.

But his love of football never left him – and his friendship with Rangnick, which continued after he left SSV Ulm, helped pull him back.

By this point, Rangnick was the manager of Stuttgart and Tuchel seemed to have recovered from his injury.

Thomas Tuchel in 2009. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Thomas Tuchel in 2009. Pic: Reuters

He managed to persuade his former boss to give him a trial for the team’s reserves.

But, frustratingly, his hopes were dashed again, as his old injury came back to haunt him and it became apparent that his chronic cartilage damage could not be overcome.

Early coaching career

Rangnick took pity on his friend and talked him into trying out coaching instead. Before long, Tuchel was working in the club’s academy and eventually took over Stuttgart’s under-14s team in 2000.

His aptitude for the role quickly became clear, and he was promoted to head the under-19s team, which he led to win the league’s youth league in 2005.

Following a rapid rise at the helm of several youth teams, and less than a decade since he was working in a bar, Tuchel was appointed first team coach of Bundesliga side Mainz in August 2009.

Thomas Tuchel when he was coach at Mainz 05 in 2009. Pic: Reuters
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Thomas Tuchel when he was coach at Mainz in 2009. Pic: Reuters


Replacing Klopp

After taking over from future Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at Mainz, he helped the newly promoted side finish an impressive ninth in Germany’s top tier.

He then steered the side to a fifth-place finish – and a Europa League spot – in the 2011/12 season.

From then on, the only way was up.

In 2015, he was appointed in the top job at Borussia Dortmund, again taking over from Klopp.

Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp, then coach of Borussia Dortmund, in 2010. Pic: Reuters
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Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp, then coach of Borussia Dortmund, in 2010. Pic: Reuters

Tuchel led the side to a second-place Bundesliga finish, just behind Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich.

In 2018, he left to join top French side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), helping them win the Ligue 1 title in his first season.

The following year, he won the domestic treble with PSG and took the club to its first Champions League final in 2020, where the team narrowly lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.

Read more:
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Champions League success

Tuchel’s success attracted plenty of suitors and he eventually left PSG on Christmas Eve 2020 – before it was announced he would be replacing Frank Lampard in the top job at Chelsea in January 2021.

Within months, he took the team to the Champions League final against Manchester City, which Chelsea won 1-0.

Thomas Tuchel celebrates after Chelsea score in the 2021 Champions League final. Pic: Reuters
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Tuchel celebrates after Chelsea score in the 2021 Champions League final. Pic: Reuters

Tuchel celebrates with the Champions League trophy in 2021. Pic: PA
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Tuchel celebrates with the Champions League trophy in 2021. Pic: PA

But just six months into the following season, fans were shocked when the west London side’s owners sacked Tuchel.

It came following behind-the-scenes disagreements and a disappointing defeat in Chelsea’s opening Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb.

Tuchel soon returned to his native Germany, taking the helm at Bayern Munich in March 2023.

During his time with the club, he managed Harry Kane following the England striker’s move from Spurs.

Tuchel left Bayern in June this year as part of “a sporting realignment” at the club, and had been without a job since.

Personal life

Tuchel has two children from his marriage to his ex-wife Sisi. The couple divorced in 2022 after 13 years together.

Tuchel with his family are Chelsea's Champions League win. Pic: Reuters
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Tuchel with his family after Chelsea’s Champions League win. Pic: Reuters

He told Sky Sports in 2021 his favourite music includes Simply Red, Jay-Z and Abba.

He also speaks several languages, including English, French, German and “some” Italian.

Tuchel has said his favourite ever footballer is former Borussia Monchengladbach sweeper Hans-Gunter Bruns, an “idol” from his childhood.

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UK

Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.

The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.

Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”

Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.

The Huszti sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland

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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.

Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.

The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.

Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.

CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”

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UK

Britain’s gas storage levels ‘concerningly low’ after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

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Britain's gas storage levels 'concerningly low' after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.

Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.

The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.

As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.

“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”

The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter.

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Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas.

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UK

UK’s first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

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UK's first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics. 

We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.

“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.

It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.

Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.

But there is a new concept in town.

From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.

A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
Image:
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre

It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.

Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.

One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.

Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
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Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility

It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.

The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.

There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.

Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
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Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment

One of the eight bays users can inject in
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There are eight bays users can inject in

We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.

The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.

The aftercare area
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The aftercare area

Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’

Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.

The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.

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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.

One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.

The question is what does success look like?

The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.

It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.

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