Chelsea 'believed Julian Nagelsmann was too similar to Thomas Tuchel'

Chelsea reportedly had second thoughts about hiring Julian Nagelsmann as their new head coach due to similarities with former boss Thomas Tuchel.

Less than a year after being given the boot by the Blues, Tuchel returned to management at the Allianz Arena in the wake of Nagelsmann's shock sacking.

Bayern cited a worsening run of results since the World Cup as their main factor in letting Nagelsmann go, only a couple of weeks before Chelsea called time on Graham Potter's stint in the dugout.

While Nagelsmann is unlikely to make a firm decision on his next club until the summer, he unsurprisingly emerged as an early leading candidate to take the Stamford Bridge job after Frank Lampard was placed in interim charge until the end of the season.

Blues directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart are said to have held a positive first round of discussions with the German coach, but over the past few days, it has been reported that he is no longer in the running for the Chelsea role.

Nagelsmann was recently questioned by Sky Deutschland about his motivations for pulling out of the race, but he answered coyly, saying: "To cancel something, you have to commit to something."

However, The Independent claims that Chelsea never unanimously agreed on hiring Nagelsmann and even believed that his playing style was too similar to Tuchel's.

Nagelsmann alternated between a three-man and four-man backline during his time at Bayern, but he tended to prefer the former system in his final few weeks at the Allianz Arena.

With Tuchel deploying a similar setup throughout his career, Chelsea supposedly want to move away from such styles of play, and there was also confusion surrounding Nagelsmann's place on the Chelsea shortlist.

The Blues affirmed that the ex-Hoffenheim boss was not earmarked as their leading candidate, whereas German sources claim that talks with Nagelsmann had entered an advanced stage, and he believed that he was their number one pick.

Some at Chelsea were concerned that Nagelsmann expected to be hired without the correct being process being followed, and the German coach also supposedly felt that the Blues' structure would have limited his chances of success.

With Nagelsmann - who is now rumoured to be prioritising the Tottenham Hotspur job - out of the running, Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly Chelsea's leading candidate for the manager's position.

Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany are also under consideration to become Potter's permanent successor, while Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou are outside candidates.

Chelsea have lost all four of their games since Lampard's homecoming, suffering Champions League quarter-final heartache to Real Madrid and dropping to 11th in the Premier League table.

However, Lampard has supposedly been assured that his short-term job is safe as the Blues prepare to return to action against Brentford in Wednesday's West London derby.