Graeme Souness insists Chelsea will 'rue the day' they sacked Thomas Tuchel

Graeme Souness believes Chelsea will regret sacking their Champions League-winning manager Thomas Tuchel.

The German coach was fired in the wake of Chelsea's surprise Champions League defeat by Dinamo Zagreb last Tuesday with Brighton's Graham Potter quickly appointed as his replacement.

Tuchel, who won the Champions League for Chelsea in 2021 just months after being hired to replace Frank Lampard, has endured a rocky start to the season. And despite being heavily backed in the transfer window, was soon given his marching orders.

Liverpool icon and Sportsmail columnist Souness claims Chelsea 'got rid of the wrong man' and says Blues co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly will 'rue the day' he sacked Tuchel as manager.

Souness told talkSPORT: 'I liked him. When a new owner comes in, you are vulnerable as a manager. He will have his own ideas. 'With the new group that came in, not having any history in football meant they were on dangerous ground.

'Petr Cech goes, Bruce Buck goes, and Marina Granovskaia goes, I think that was not a good sign for the Chelsea supporters.

'They spent a lot of money willy nilly, which is what [former manager] Bob Paisley used to say to us when people weren't positively sure.

'They got rid of the wrong man. I would have kept him. I don't believe the stories coming out of Chelsea are anywhere near the full picture.'

Souness also accused Chelsea of creating a negative public relations campaign against Tuchel in order to give off a positive image of the club's new owners.

'I think the PR at Chelsea have done a number on Tuchel to paint the new owners in a good light,' Souness continued.

'I don't feel sorry for Tuchel because at the end of the day he's a big boy and took a job at a big football club. The pressure is on from day one.

'But I think Chelsea will rue that decision.'

Boehly said the change of manager was all part of Chelsea's moving in a new direction.

'When you take over any business you just have to make sure you're aligned with the people who are operating the business,' Boehly, speaking at the SALT leaders conference in New York, said when asked to explain Tuchel's departure.

'Tuchel is obviously extremely talented and someone who had great success at Chelsea but our vision for the club was finding a coach who wanted to collaborate with us.'

Boehly suggested a more forensic approach to player development from the first team down to the academy was behind the change.

'There are a lot of walls to break down at Chelsea,' Boehly said. 'Before, the first team and the academy didn't really share data, they didn't share information about where the top players were coming from, so our goal was to bring a team together with the academy, with the first team, with the incremental clubs we want to acquire and develop, all of that needs to be a well-oiled machine.

'The reality of our decision was that we weren't sure that Thomas saw is the same way we saw it. No one is right or wrong, we just didn't have a shared vision for the future.

'It wasn't about Zagreb, it was really about the shared vision of what we wanted Chelsea Football Club to look like.'

Tuchel issued an emotional statement days after his sacking on Twitter, claiming the club will 'always have a special place in my heart'.

‘This is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to write – and it is one which I hoped I would not need to do for many years,’ Tuchel said.

‘This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. Thank you so much to all the staff, the players and the supporters for making me feel very welcome from the start.

‘The pride and joy I felt at helping the team to win the Champions League and the Club World Cup will stay with me forever.

‘I am honoured to have been a part of this club’s history and the memories of the last 19 months will always have a special place in my heart.’

Boehly, who is co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, said the passion of Premier League fans was what had drawn him to acquiring Chelsea.

'When you experience it I don't think there's anything like it,' Boehly said. 'Maybe American college football could compare. But it's beyond passion. It's bordering religion.'