Spain winger Bryan Zaragoza has hit back at Thomas Tuchel after he was criticised by the new England manager during their time together at Bayern Munich.
The 23-year-old joined Bayern in January in a €15 million (£12.7m) deal from Granada but was due to stay with the Spanish club until the summer
However, an injury to Kingsley Coman then saw Bayern strike a separate deal with Granada to sign Zaragoza on loan for the remainder of the season for €4m (£3.3m).
But Zaragoza failed to secure a regular role at Bayern under Tuchel, starting just one game in the Bundesliga and making another six appearances from the bench.
Speaking about Zaragoza’s subdued start at Bayern, Tuchel said: “First and foremost, there’s the language barrier.
It’s difficult for him in English and in German. That’s a basic component. [With Bryan] it was about playing it safe since we didn’t know how long [wingers] Kingsley [Coman] and Serge [Gnabry] would be out.
‘It was clear to me from the beginning that it would be a big step for him, and we sense that now. We see his quality, but also observe that that, linguistically speaking, the integration isn’t complete. We knew that he would need time from us.’
Zaragoza ended up leaving Bayern in the summer transfer window and returned to La Liga where he joined Osasuna on loan for the season.
The winger has been one of the team’s standout performers for Osasuna this term with one goal and five assists in La Liga so far, while for Spain’s national side he came off the bench to score the winner in their 3-2 victory over Switzerland in the Nations League on Monday evening.
Speaking after the Spain game, Zaragoza was asked about Tuchel’s criticism and his inability to adapt to Bayern because of the language barrier.
‘Football is played with your feet, not with language… and I don’t have to say anything else,’ Zaragoza said.
Tuchel, who also left Bayern at the end of last season, is due to take over as England’s new manager in 2025.
His first game in charge of England will be a World Cup 2026 qualifier in the next international break in March.
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