Full article : Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that there is “no release clause” in his England contract, and promised that there is no chance that he will leave his job before Euro 2028. The England head coach signed a new two-year contract in February, extending the deal he signed in October 2024. He admitted on Wednesday that he still misses the 50-game season of elite club football, but insisted that he would not be going anywhere before the next major tournament. Mauricio Pochettino, who signed a new four-year deal as USMNT head coach after this summer’s World Cup, is close to taking over at Manchester United, a departure made possible by the existence of a release clause in his contract. Tuchel was asked on Wednesday if he had a similar mechanism. “No release clause,” Tuchel told reporters. “And there’s no intention [to leave]. I signed the contract. I want to stay until the Euros. I want to do the Euros. We have unfinished business.” When asked if there was “zero chance” that he would leave should a big club come in for him, Tuchel replied: “I would say so”. Tuchel referred to the confidence he took from a meeting with FA Chief Executive Mark Bullingham and Chief Football Officer Dan Ashworth that took place “very early” during the World Cup, when they made clear they supported him regardless of how England fared in the tournament. “They just made it very clear and it comes from a place of trust,” Tuchel said. “That’s what you look for as a coach. I love my group of players. I love my staff. I have bosses who trust me and are happy with the way we do things. It’s a lot, and I appreciate it a lot. It’s in a good place. I’m in a good place, and I love the players. I miss my players, and I miss my team. I miss the 50 matches that I’m not involved in a year. But I’m desperate to win the Nations League and to play and try to win the Euros.” Before taking over with England, Tuchel had coached Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, and he admitted that part of him does miss the daily intensity of club football. After Sunday’s game in Madrid, England will not have another fixture for more than four months, the Nations League quarter-finals in late March. “I miss these two minutes when everything is done, you go out two minutes before the whistle goes,” he said. “It’s 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.” When asked about his plans after the Euros, and whether he might return to the club game, Tuchel said that he was “open to everything”. But he is very appreciative of the support he enjoys with England. “I’m very grateful for what I have here,” he said. “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. From the first talks, it was not only about we want to get the results, but we were very aligned, and this alignment is key. If you look in a club, it’s key that it’s from top to bottom. And I feel this alignment. You cannot force it, and you cannot have it artificially.” Harry Kane will break the England cap record on Thursday with his 126th appearance. And he thinks his records – especially for goals – will be hard to beat. “When you look at Jude [Bellingham] and Dec[lan Rice] for example, they’re on 60-odd caps already and how young they are,” Kane said. “So I’ll try and give them a good number to catch. The goal record, of course, is going to be one that’s difficult to beat for a while. I think that’s good.” Kane believes that his own record-breaking achievements should be an inspiration to the next generation. “If I was younger and I had a player in front of me doing what I was doing, I know that would push me to think, ‘Okay, it’s possible, I can score those goals, I can win the Ballon d’Or. I can break the cap records.’ Whilst I’m in this place, of course, is to try and set these records as high as I can, one day look back and see if anyone can catch them.”   submitted by   /u/Shroft [link]   [comments]