Borussia Dortmund sack Tuchel after third-placed Bundesliga finish

Borussia Dortmund have sacked head coach Thomas Tuchel amid a bitter dressing room divide and a third-placed Bundesliga finish.

The club confirmed his departture following widespread claims that Tuchel's relationship with BVB's players has deteriorated to the point of being unworkable.

Man City hold Alexis talks in London

Although Dortmund won the DFB-Pokal on Saturday, it was overshadowed by a hostile player reaction to Nuri Sahin's absence from the matchday squad.

Club captain Marcel Schmelzer and influential forward Marco Reus both distanced themselves from the 43-year-old, who will receive 2.9 million in compensation according to Bild.

After meeting with Dortmund chiefs on Tuesday, Tuchel told Bild: "It was a very short analysis of the season, so you may guess the outcome."

Tuchel replaced Jurgen Klopp in 2015 when the coach left Signal Iduna Park in the aftermath of a tumultuous season in which Dortmund finished seventh.

Dortmund finished second in Tuchel's first season as coach, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stepping up to be their star forward.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was sold to Manchester United last summer and Mario Gotze returned from Bayern after three years away, but Dortmund never looked like real title contenders.

Instead BVB were demoted to third in the Bundesliga ladder behind surprise challengers RB Leipzig, who were promoted last season and have strong financial backing.

RUMOURS: Milan in €60m Morata bid

Their failure to compete with champions Bayern Munich in the league this season, Tuchel leaves with the best-ever points ratio (2.09) of a Dortmund coach.

Dortmund released a statement confirming Tuchel's departure, and thanked him for his work at the club: "We would like to thank Thomas Tuchel and his coaching staff for the sporting success at BVB, which reached a deserved climax last Saturday at the DFB Pokal final in Berlin against Eintracht Frankfurt. We wish Thomas Tuchel only the very best in his professional future."

In addition to searching for a new coach to lead their squad, Dortmund face a fight to keep hold of Gabon international Aubameyang, 27, amid reported interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Nice's Lucien Favre, Hoffenheim's Julian Nagelsmann and Cologne's Peter Stoger are all linked with the now-vacant role, while Tuchel has been tipped with taking on the Bayer Leverkusen job.