Harry Redknapp has branded new England manager Thomas Tuchel a ‘German spy’ who has ‘been sent over to f*** us up’, while speaking at a charity event last week.

Tuchel was confirmed as England’s new manager last October and took charge of his first two matches recently against Albania and Latvia. And his tenure got off to a winning start, beating the former 2-0 and the latter 3-0 at Wembley.

The German former Chelsea boss’ appointment was met with mixed reviews, with some pundits and fans arguing that the FA should have hired an Englishman to replace Gareth Southgate.

Redknapp, the former Tottenham and Portsmouth manager who was linked with the England job back in the day, was speaking to an audience last week about Tuchel during a charity event in London.

When quizzed whether England were correct to appoint the German boss, he replied: “I don’t know. I’ll be honest with you, I think he’s a German spy.”

After hearing laughter in the crowd, he continued: “I’m telling you. Seriously, he’s been sent over to f*** us up. He has! I’m telling ya, he’s like Lord Haw Haw in the war – ‘We have your best soldiers captured’ and all that.”

The 78-year-old added: “‘Go over and ruin that team”, before putting on a faux-German accent to say: “Ya” .

Express Sport has contacted Redknapp’s representatives for comment.

Tuchel was hired by the FA with the clear aim of guiding England to World Cup glory at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Tuchel was appointed by England thanks to his incredible winning pedigree, having won the Champions League with Chelsea, while triumphing in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain.

Next up for England and Tuchel, it’s another World Cup qualifier against Andorra away before they take on Senegal in a friendly three days later on June 10.