Ralf Rangnick has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to manage Chelsea before Thomas Tuchel was appointed as manager last month.
Frank Lampard was sacked in the January window after the blues went on a run of five defeats in eight Premier League matches, while Tuchel was brought in as his replacement.
But Rangnick says that he was approached by the London side, who offered him the manager’s position on an interim basis until the end of the campaign.
However, the former RB Leipzig head coach rejected Chelsea’s approach. ‘I said: ‘I would like to come and work with you, but I can’t do it for four months. I’m not an interim coach,’ Rangnick revealed in an interview with The Times.
‘To the media and players you would be the ‘four-month manager’, a lame duck, from day one.’
Rangnick has also praised the impact Tuchel has made at the Stamford Bridge and his decision to bring in Zsolt Low as his assistant at the club.
‘If you watch Chelsea now you see a mutual plan for when they have the ball or the other team have the ball,’ Rangnick said. ‘Thomas is tactically on a very sophisticated level.
‘Zsolt Low [Tuchel’s assistant] was my player and assistant coach at Leipzig and plays a vital role in his staff and you can see from the way he interacts with players Thomas also has great leadership skills.
‘Appointing him was a top solution. I can only congratulate Thomas and Chelsea for the choice.’
