Revealed: The ‘real reason’ Thomas Tuchel turned down chance to manage Man United this summer after ‘almost agreeing’ Old Trafford move

Thomas Tuchel reportedly rejected the chance to manage Manchester United due to disagreements over the proposed transfer policy.

Tuchel, 51, left Bayern Munich at the end of last season, with the German widely tipped to replace Erik ten Hag as boss at Old Trafford.

In fact, Mail Sport even reported how the German met with United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco to share his potential plans for the club.

However, despite a lengthy end-of-season review from INEOS, United ultimately decided to stick with Ten Hag – and trigger a contract extension – despite a deeply disappointing season that saw the club finish in eighth.

And, according to Bild, Tuchel was actually extremely close to replacing Ten Hag in the dugout at Old Trafford.

Tuchel was tipped as a frontrunner to replace Erik ten Hag after he oversaw a difficult season

Tuchel met with United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco to share his plans for the club

However, the report claims that a disagreement surrounding how the proposed transfer structure would work at the club gave the German cold feet.

It was claimed at the time that Tuchel had chosen to take a break from football. 

German pundit Marcel Reif told the paper: ‘I would have bet a lot that Tuchel would replace Ten Hag. 

‘I recently had another conversation with someone who is very close to that. It was pretty far along, almost in agreement.

‘As far as the squad is concerned, the considerations were different. 

‘Tuchel said pretty much at the finish line: “I’m not doing that! I won’t do that to myself again, that I go to a club and then things come from outside.”’ 

United have overseen a major restructure off the field this summer, with Omar Berrada arriving as CEO, Jason Wilcox coming in as technical director, while Dan Ashworth joined as sporting director and Christopher Vivell was appointed as interim head of recruitment. 

The new approach to transfers is said to be more collaborative, with Ten Hag believed to have less influence than he previously did. 

United spent more than £200million in the summer market, with Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte all joining the first team squad. 

United have made several changes this summer, with Dan Ashworth among the new arrivals

Disagreements over the proposed transfer policy ultimately led to Tuchel getting cold feet

United return to action following the international break with a trip to Southampton

Tuchel has previously clashed with board members over transfer policy at Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, and it is clear the German was desperate to avoid this if he moved to Old Trafford, where reports claimed he was the first choice option.

And when pressed on whether Tuchel could ever join United in the future, Reif didn’t seem to optimistic as he added: ‘Tuchel is not a firefighter. 

‘Tuchel wants to build something and for this, you need a full transfer window, you need to change things.’

United return to action following the international break with a trip to Southampton, as the Red Devils look to kick-start their season following two defeats in three Premier League matches.