Julian Nagelsmann once turned Real Madrid down and has looked at three Premier League clubs for inspiration.
The highly-rated manager was sacked by Bayern Munich on Friday afternoon and replaced by Thomas Tuchel in a whirlwind 24 hours at the club.
It ended just under two years of his stewardship at the Allianz Arena in a surprising move after Bayern fell a point behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
And it might not be long before Nagelsmann is back in another job with plenty of clubs interested, including Real Madrid, who are eyeing long-term options to succeed Carlo Ancelotti eventually.
But the 35-year-old has already said no to the Spanish giants when they came calling in 2018 when Nagelsmann was still just 30 – a toddler in terms of managers.
However, the young coach turned them down and insisted it was down to his lack of experience.
He told The Independent in 2020: “It’s normal if Real Madrid call you, you think about it.
“I was surprised at first, I weighed it up and I didn’t feel comfortable with a decision to go there.
“I want to improve. If you go to Real Madrid, there’s no time to improve as a manager.
“You don’t have a chance to be a better manager, you already have to be the best.
“I’m not the best now, but I can admit I want to be one of the best in future.
“If you go to Real Madrid or Barcelona, the fans, the media and the decision-makers don’t give you the time to grow into that.”
Whether Real Madrid try to make another move for Nagelsmann in the near future remains to be seen while he is the favourite to succeed Antonio Conte at Tottenham currently.
The Italian is set to be sacked this week after an extraordinary rant directed at the players and staff at Spurs.
And Nagelsmann is even a big fan of the north London club and even has a replica shirt, while he has admitted he sees them as a source of inspiration – along with Liverpool and Manchester City.
“I watch a lot of Liverpool and Manchester City,” he said.
“Last season [2018/19], City had great flexibility, so many ways to open up the game and interesting positions in ball possession. It’s always fascinating to watch Pep Guardiola teams.
“Liverpool have developed so well, especially in possession and having variety. In the first two seasons under Jurgen Klopp, it was more about counter-attack and creating attacking moments.
“That’s the same process we are going through now at Leipzig, expanding to not only rely on pressing and counters.
“If you want to be a good manager, you have to watch Liverpool games. What they are doing is incredible. It’s the performances that you can learn from, but more importantly, is what you can take away from their mentality.”
At the time of the interview, Nagelsmann was in charge of RB Leizpig facing Tottenham in the Champions League with Jose Mourinho in charge – a match that the German side would win 4-0 on aggregate.
The young coach admitted to watching plenty of Spurs since Mauricio Pochettino was at the club and said: “He is a really good manager and his team was great to look at as a spectator.
“I have seen many Spurs games, but I haven’t been watching them with the purpose of analysis for our preparation, because we have had so much to deal with first.”
