Thomas Tuchel's awkward meeting with England star as German is announced

Newly announced boss once endured an awkward meeting with former ace .

A new chapter for the Three Lions is officially underway after The German coach will already be familiar with most of his squad from his time at Stamford Bridge, although there will be a few stars he'll know .

Captain was coached for a single season by Tuchel at , and , such as , , and , were all under his leadership in west London. Former Blues captain Gallagher is another who Tuchel knows well, although they only had fleeting interactionsI in west London.

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Gallagher enjoyed a stellar loan spell with fellow London club in 2021 and 2022, when he helped them reach an semi-final. The only issue? Tuchel’s Chelsea were their opponents, and Gallagher was not allowed to face his parent club.

“It was really hard,” Gallagher told last year. “Obviously to be on the journey with Palace, to get to the semi-final was great. To get to the semi-final, you want to play in that as well. It was annoying that it came against Chelsea.”

The 24-year-old then recalled a jovial but awkward moment when he and his family encountered England's new head coach in a pub with the cup clash approaching. “I was out for lunch with my parents and my girlfriend,” Gallagher continued. “He [then-Chelsea manager Tuchel] turned up with a couple of the staff.

“It wasn’t even me [who spoke to Tuchel], it was my dad! He goes, ‘any chance of him being able to play in the semi-final?’ and Tuchel just went, ‘no chance’. He just laughed it off.”

Gallagher went on to play more regularly for the Blues, before leaving this summer for Atletico Madrid. He has already scored twice for his new club and appears to be thriving under Diego Simeone.

Under Tuchel, Gallagher was part of the first team but was rarely favoured before the German was fired six games into the campaign, having received a harsh telling-off after an early-season red card against in 2022 - perhaps indicating that his chances under the German for England could be under threat.

“You can’t make the [second] challenge if you have a yellow card after 20 or 25 minutes,” said Tuchel, speaking after his side's 2022 win against the Foxes, in which Gallagher saw red.

“The challenge was a clear yellow card and gave us a huge disadvantage. There was no reason to make this decision. He is responsible for what he did, and of course, he knows it was a huge mistake.”

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