'I'm Thomas Tuchel's right-hand man – this is why I quit Wrexham after one training session'

New England manager Thomas Tuchel has been joined by former Wrexham midfielder Anthony Barry, who also worked with the German at Chelsea and Bayern Munich

Thomas Tuchel's assistant in the England set-up once quit Wrexham after just one training session.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss has succeeded Gareth Southgate as Three Lions boss after signing 18-month deal. Interim boss Lee Carsley will oversee November’s Nations League games against Ireland and Greece before handing over the reins to Tuchel, who officially starts on January 1.

His right-hand man will be highly-rated coach Anthony Barry, who was Tuchel’s assistant at Bayern and Chelsea. He has previous international coaching experience with Belgium and Portugal, working under Roberto Martinez with both countries.

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During his playing days, spent predominantly in the lower leagues, he had two spells with Wrexham, although his first ended before it had barely started. He was signed by then-Reds Dragons boss Dean Saunders in 2010. Wrexham were in the National League at the time.

According to the former Wales striker, Barry asked to leave the club after just one training session, having received a lucrative offer from another club. Speaking on talkSPORT, Saunders recalled: “He told me, ‘Fleetwood have offered me double the money’. I said, ‘Well, it’s too late, you’ve signed for us now’.

“He said, ‘Yeah but gaffer, come on, I can’t turn that down’. I said, ‘No, you’ve signed for us’. There had been back page headlines with [Barrie] the shirt on and everything.

“I couldn’t believe it. I sat there for a couple of days and thought, ‘If you don’t want to be here, if you want to be somewhere else, you might as well go’. Then he went to Fleetwood.”

“The next time I saw him, he was on the bench at Chelsea. I was thinking, ‘What’s going on there?’ Apparently he met Frank Lampard on a coaching course, ended up helping Frank and working his way up.

“That is a story of how you can get on, from the bottom to Bayern Munich and he’s now England assistant manager. Amazing. A nice lad as well, by the way.”

Barry, 38, did actually turn out for Wrexham at the end of his playing days before embarking on a successful coaching career. Tuchel was impressed by Barry at Chelsea and the pair developed a strong friendship during a period in which they won the Champions League.

Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea in September 2022 but returned for Barry when he was appointed at Bayern the following year. England will be their third job together.