Thomas Tuchel insists he was not in contention to replace Arsene Wenger

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he was not in touch with Arsenal regarding the possibility of Arsene Wenger as their next head coach. The German’s name was constantly linked with the north London club after Wenger decided to re-sign from the managerial role but Tuchel has now cleared up any doubts.

Speaking ahead of the International Champions Cup clash against Arsenal, Tuchel confirmed that he had verbally agreed to join Les Parisiens even before Wenger’s decision to quiet the Gunners, he said:“To be honest I made my decision before Arsene Wenger made his decision. I never got in touch and I made the decision to move to Paris before Wenger took the decision to resign.”

Meanwhile, Wenger has not re-entered into management since ending his 22-year association with Arsenal but Tuchel believes the 68-year-old will resume his duties in the near future, he added: “He will keep on coaching. It isn’t my right to talk about him but I imagine it must be a strange feeling not to manage the shirts from Arsenal because he was more than just a coach.He was Arsenal, he is a gentleman, one of the biggest coaches in the world and somewhere I have the feeling he isn’t finished yet.”

Since the end of last season, Arsenal have moved on from Wenger with Unai Emery taking charge at the helm and the Spaniard has done a credible job during the transfer window where he has brought in the likes of Bernd Leno, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira.

Every one of those recruits have been focused on improving the defensive side of the Gunners game and Emery is understood to be eyeing one more signing before the transfer window closes on August 9. Arsenal have recently completed the second part of their pre-season tour in Singapore and they are now expected to return home before tackling Chelsea and Lazio in their remaining friendlies.