Thomas Tuchel’s refusal to sign Gabriel Jesus last summer reportedly left Chelsea owner Todd Boehly astonished.
The striker, who departed Manchester City and has since made a positive impact at Arsenal this season, was on the verge of joining Chelsea’s London rivals.
However, Tuchel intervened and prevented the transfer, causing surprise among the Chelsea board, as per The Guardian’s report.
The Blues struggled for goals this term, netting only 38 times in the Premier League.
Problems with strikers were a continuous theme throughout the campaign with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz not hitting top form.
Meanwhile, Jesus led Arsenal to a second place finish, scoring 11 league goals despite missing months because of knee surgery.
Reports suggest that the club listened to Tuchel’s wishes on transfers last summer.
He wanted to spend big on defence after losing Antonio Rudiger as well as Andreas Christensen and the choice was also made due to fitness issues regarding Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
Tuchel then splashed £160million on Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Kouliably.
The now Bayern Munich boss was sacked after his relationship with the board became frosty and he was replaced by Graham Potter, who was then axed after just seven months.
Mauricio Pochettino will now take over as manager for next season following on from Frank Lampard’s interim spell.
Boehly is expected to step back from running the club, which was reportedly always the plan, and not because of poor results on the pitch.