The England players Thomas Tuchel bought and sold at Chelsea and Bayern Munich

Thomas Tuchel is taking the reins as England manager in 2025 and the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss will be tasked with overseeing a group of players including some he bought and sold while working in the club side of the game.

Tuchel had a bit of a reputation for being a demanding coach when it came to transfers at his former clubs, and while he will have to adapt to working with who is eligible at international level, he could reunite with – or overlook – some familiar faces when he begins selecting his England squads.

After his time in charge of Chelsea between January 2021 and September 2022, and then his spell at Bayern between March 2023 and the end of last season, we’ve taken a look at the England internationals those clubs bought and sold during his spells in charge.

We’ve left out any uncapped players or youth internationals, but have included players who have gone on to make their England debuts since the transfers in question.

England players bought by Thomas Tuchel

Raheem Sterling

Chelsea’s last transfer window with Tuchel at the helm – not that it was known at the time – was earth-shattering, as their new regime spearheaded by the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership spent record amounts on new players.

The first signing they made was Raheem Sterling, who arrived from Manchester City in a deal worth £47.5m.

“I’ve obviously achieved a lot in my career so far, but there is still so much more to achieve and I’m really looking forward to doing that in a Chelsea shirt, under Thomas’s management,” he said at the time.

And Tuchel himself said how much he prioritised the addition of the winger.

“It was a huge priority,” Tuchel told the BBC. “There cannot be a bigger priority because [signing Sterling] was the priority. Hopefully he shapes our team by just being who he is. He will be a huge asset for us.”

Sterling was a constant feature in England squads until then, having been to the last two World Cups and European Championships before his move to Chelsea. He was called up for the Qatar World Cup later that year (2022) as well, but by then, Tuchel had been fired by Chelsea, which was controversial given how quickly it happened after the summer window in which they had backed him so strongly.

Sterling made seven appearances under Tuchel and started well, scoring three goals. But that accounted for half of his Premier League goal tally that season. For comparison, over the rest of the season, he only added another six goals from 31 games in all competitions.

Currently on loan at Arsenal, Sterling has not played for England since the last World Cup, his last cap coming in the quarter-final against France on December 10, 2022.

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Harry Kane

Harry Kane has served with distinction as England’s captain since 2018 and became their record scorer in March 2023, which was a few months before Tuchel’s Bayern broke their transfer record – and the entire Bundesliga’s – to take the striker away from Tottenham and the Premier League.

Kane became one of the most high-profile English players abroad, showing no issues whatsoever in adapting to German football under Tuchel’s guidance. Across the course of the 2023-24 season, Kane scored 44 goals from 45 games; it was the highest-scoring campaign of his career yet.

By the end of it, Kane led England into the Euro 2024 on German soil. Scoring three goals, he was the joint-winner of the Golden Boot.

Although Tuchel left by the end of the season, he was regularly enthusiastic about Kane’s impact – not just in front of goal, but as far as the training ground – during their first spell working together.

“The Harry Kane effect will not evaporate,” Tuchel said after Kane’s debut in their defeat in the German Super Cup. “It works on so many levels that you cannot realise it because you do not witness it daily. In the changing room, on the pitch, his character, his professionalism. How hard he trains, how after the defeat he was first on the pitch for training with the reserves.”

In an interview on the official Bundesliga website, Tuchel later reflected: “It’s just a gift, I feel very privileged to be his coach. The guy is super humble, he’s the first out there on the pitch every single day and anything you ask of him, he will do it. He’s a huge personality who becomes a shark on the field, because he wants to score, he wants to win, and he does it on a daily basis. He doesn’t only score on a daily basis, he trains well, he does what is needed, he shows his quality.

“He calms everyone down around him and makes everyone better by his pure presence. It’s the highest level, I can put it like this, as a human being but also as a footballer. He’s a very different profile to all of my other players. He can play as a nine, a fox in the box like no other with outstanding finishing, but he also assists.”

And Kane told Sky Sports Germany that Tuchel is a “fantastic coach, fantastic person” when asked about the prospect of England appointing him, before the decision was confirmed.

Eric Dier

Six months after Kane’s move from Tottenham to Bayern, he was joined by Eric Dier, who made the same move but on loan (though it would become permanent at the end of the season so that the defender would outlast Tuchel in Munich).

It was seen as a surprise move by many, but Tuchel put his faith in Dier, giving him 20 appearances, often alongside future Manchester United signing Matthijs de Ligt.

Dier previously earned 49 England caps between November 2015 and March 2023, but at the age of 30 it remains to be seen if he would ever be considered for an international recall.

Tuchel’s admiration of him during their six months working together was clear, though, with the manager admitting in April: “I am very happy with him. He’s exceeded all expectations. He’s an extremely important piece of the puzzle. He’s organized, he’s vocal, we didn’t have that much.”

And a month later, Dier said: “He is a fantastic person. He was a very good manager in the Premier League, and he is also a good manager here. I think he is very genuine. What you see is who he is and I really appreciate that as a manager. I am extremely grateful for him bringing me to this great club and giving me that opportunity. It has been great to work with him and I have learnt a lot in a short time and I am very grateful to him for giving me this chance.”

England players sold by Thomas Tuchel

Fikayo Tomori

Promoted by Frank Lampard into the Chelsea first team, Fikayo Tomori never got the chance to play under Tuchel for the Blues because they had loaned him to AC Milan a few days before bringing in the new manager.

Milan ultimately made their move for Tomori permanent, which was somewhat out of Tuchel’s hands.

Despite the impressive form he has shown in Serie A, Tomori was rarely given much faith by Gareth Southgate at international level, but has five caps to his name so far.

Marc Guehi

Similarly, Guehi came through the Chelsea academy and debuted under Lampard but never got to play under Tuchel. After a loan spell at Swansea City, he was sold to Crystal Palace in 2021.

Guehi has become one of the Premier League’s most coveted centre-backs since and was a regular starter alongside John Stones for England at Euro 2024. With 20 caps to his name, Guehi appears to have a long-term future in the England backline.

And Tuchel has been impressed by his rise, saying after his first season at Crystal Palace: “It’s a fantastic development and it’s very hard to know if we kept him what would’ve happened. Maybe he needed a change, a different club, a bigger role, more minutes to develop his full potential.

“It just tells you over and over again that if you trust younger players, have a role for them, they can on a regular level match your expectations and even over-perform. It’s a decision we took together and we are happy with these decisions. I am happy with these decisions and it was the right thing to do given the circumstances.”

Tammy Abraham

Unfortunately, Abraham has struggled to fulfil his potential as a top-level striker, and his downturn in fortunes can realistically be traced back to his time playing for Tuchel.

Whereas Lampard had installed him as Chelsea’s number nine, Tuchel didn’t show Abraham as much trust, only giving him seven appearances between his appointment in January 2021 and the end of that season, after which he was sold to Serie A side Roma.

Abraham actually enjoyed some revelatory form in his first season with Roma, which put him back on Southgate’s radar for England selections, but his form nosedived in his second and he suffered a serious injury towards the end of it, which meant he barely played in his third.

Now, the striker is on loan at Milan, where he has reunited with Tomori. The most recent of his 11 England caps was in June 2022 and with only one goal from eight games for Milan so far, a Three Lions recall seems a distant prospect.

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Ross Barkley

You would have to go even further back for the last sight of Ross Barkley in an England shirt. The midfielder earned more than 30 caps for his country, but the last was in October 2019, towards the start of his second full season as a Chelsea player.

Barkley suffered a decline in fortunes which led to his release by Chelsea in August 2022, after 14 appearances under Tuchel, but he has since got back on track with spells at Nice and Luton Town, which set up a return to former loan club Aston Villa earlier this year.

A return to the international scene, though, seems just out of reach for the 30-year-old.

Honourable mention: Tino Livramento

While we have only focused on players who have been capped by England, Livramento has been called up to the senior Three Lions squad on several occasions without yet making his debut.

A Chelsea academy product, the right-back never made his senior debut for the club under Tuchel before Southampton signed him in 2021. He is now at Newcastle at club level and, having been pushing for an international debut for a while, it could ironically be Tuchel that sends him into England action for the first time.

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