I won’t do a Mauricio Pochettino! Thomas Tuchel insists there is ‘zero chance’ he will walk out on England for a Premier League job – but admits he misses club football

Thomas Tuchel will stay loyal to England until the end of his contract at the 2028 European Championship but admits that he does miss the regular thrill of club management.

As Mauricio Pochettino prepares to activate a release clause with the USA national team to take the Manchester United job, England boss Tuchel has vowed to ignore all outside offers until the end of his deal with England.

‘There is no release clause,’ said Tuchel. ‘I signed the contract. I want to stay until the Euros. I want to do the Euros. We have unfinished business.’

After that Tuchel said that he is open-minded.

Asked whether he could stay longer with England, he said with a smile that: ‘I am open to everything.’

The chances are, though, that England will be looking for a new coach once the 2028 Euros are done. 

‘I miss the 50 [club] matches a season,’ Tuchel said. ‘I miss those two minutes when everything is done. You go out the two minutes before the first whistle goes. It’s like the best two minutes.

‘Everything is done. You’re in a full stadium. Lights are on and you’re just so excited and you’re part of it.

‘That’s actually the two minutes where I realise how lucky and how grateful I am. Then the whistle goes, and then you’re just in the tunnel again, trying to win the game for your team.’

Tuchel originally signed a short-term deal through to last summer’s World Cup but extended it until the Euros in the months before the tournament that ended with a semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Asked if there was ‘zero chance’ of him leaving before the end of his contract, he said: ‘I would say so.

‘First of all, I’m very grateful for what I have here because I know how rare it is to be in love with your team and to have the trust and to be able to work freely with your coaching staff, which I am.

‘I love my group of players. I love my staff and I have bosses who trust me and are happy with the way we do things.

‘So, it’s a lot. And I know how to appreciate it a lot.

‘It’s in a good place. I’m in a good place. I’m desperate to win the Nations League and to play and try to win the Euros.’

England face Croatia at Wembley tonight in the Nations League before heading to Madrid for their final group game against Spain on Sunday. If England win both matches, they will top their group ahead of next March’s quarter-finals. At the very least they should progress as a second placed team.

The four teams emerging from next spring’s quarters will play Nations League semi-finals and final in one country next summer. With a venue yet to be chosen by UEFA, the FA are expected to throw their hat into the ring as a prospective host.

Tuchel has spoken before about the struggles England sometimes have in taking training performances on to the pitch and agreed that hosting the Nations League latter stages could act as a decent warm up before the challenges of playing a big tournament in front of a home crowd a year later.

‘The Nations League helps in general for us and I think to have it here could be exciting,’ Tuchel said.

‘It would be nice to have it here. So first of all, we need to reach the final before we play.

‘Playing at home is a challenge. It should be a home advantage when we go to the Euros and it should not become a home disadvantage that we feel in our brain.

‘It should be exciting and that’s why it’s also important what we are building at the moment and how the team plays.’