Thomas Tuchel: I was a Tottenham fan growing up – but I’m a Chelsea man now

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he was a Tottenham fans growing up - but insists he is a Chelsea man now.

The German revealed in 2016 after a Europa League game with Borussia Dortmund at White Hart Lane that he supported Spurs as a boy.

Tuchel has attempted to clear up the issue and said his past allegiance with Tottenham means nothing following his appointment at Stamford Bridge.

“I want to be very honest,” said Tuchel. “We played the Europa League game with Dortmund at Tottenham and everyone . . . I just explained when I was young there was no daily matches live from Germany so all I could see was two minutes every few weeks.

“Suddenly Tottenham came across on our sports broadcaster and I heard the name Tottenham Hotspur. I have talked about that story. I was young. That was one of my first experiences, I did not know it was a club from London. Now I am aware I work for their big rivals and you can be sure we will do everything we can to beat them next week!”

Tuchel got his Chelsea tenure off to a middling start with a 0-0 draw against Wolves on Wednesday night and, after a home game against Burnley this weekend, faces a trip to Tottenham next week.