England’s veteran striker Harry Kane admitted he was surprised after Three Lions named Thomas Tuchel as the coach. The German took over the coaching baton from Gareth Southgate, who led the team to the Euro 2024 finals for the second consecutive time.

Tuchel is England’s third foreign manager and this is the first time he has been given managerial duties at the International level. The former Chelsea head coach has signed an 18-month contract that will see him lead the country until the other side of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Meanwhile, Harry Kane worked with Thomas Tuchel in the previous season for Bayern Munich.

Asked about his reaction to hearing the news that he would be reunited with Tuchel at England, Kane replied: “I was surprised if I’m honest. Yeah, didn’t expect it. I guess I just wasn’t really thinking of him as a national team coach.

“But yeah, once it was announced, I was really excited because obviously I had the pleasure of working with him last year and I know what he can bring. I knew what he could bring to this type of squad that we have.

“And obviously we’ve only been together a few days, but it hasn’t disappointed. He’s bringing us up to what I thought he would. And I think camp after camp, as he settles in, as we get to know him more, I think we’ll improve as we go. But ultimately is about building up until next year and these are important camps to do that.”

Under Southgate, players like Kyle Walker, Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire along with Harry Kane formed the leadership group. However, the talismanic striker revealed that the leadership group is yet to be discussed under Tuchel.

“We’ve had brief conversations with it,” Kane said. “It hasn’t officially been formed yet a leadership group, but obviously you have myself and you have Hendo, you have Kyle. Obviously, Dan’s [Dan Burn] coming into his first camp, but I think Dan’s seen as a leader in his role.

England will face Albania in the World Cup qualifiers on Friday.