‘Played brilliantly’: Hansi Flick is glad £40m star didn’t join Tottenham or Arsenal

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Hansi Flick loves the way Corentin Tolisso has turned his Bayern Munich career around after being linked with a summer move to Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal, speaking to AZ.

Until it became abundantly clear that Thiago Alcantara wanted a fresh start after seven years in Munich, another member of FC Hollywood’s all-star cast was expected to depart the Allianz Arena stage.

A relentless series of injuries had restricted Tolisso to just eight Bundesliga starts in the last two seasons and it looked for all the world that Bayern were ready to give up on their one-time £40 million record signing.

ESPN reported that the World Cup winner could have been offered to Tottenham in a swap deal that would see Tanguy Ndombele go in the other direction.

Spurs north London neighbours Arsenal, meanwhile, were willing to give Tolisso the chance to rebuild his reputation in the Premier League (Fussball Transfers).

Once Thiago swapped Munich for Merseyside, however, the prospect of Tolisso joining him in England went up in smoke – much to the delight of Flick.

“He’s in good form. Against Atlético, (in last week’s 4-0 Champions League victory) he played brilliantly. Tolisso has the quality to go box-to-box – that is, to be present in both penalty areas,” says the treble-winning Bayern boss.

“It’s just important that Coco enjoys football and he’s showing it now again.

“You can tell during training that a burden has fallen from him. That is extremely important because then he has a certain degree of looseness. Then he can play with his own class, which gives him more self-confidence.

“He is very strong. He has quality.”

One of the most naturally gifted midfielders in Europe is certainly playing with a swagger again. His eye for a long-range wondergoal appears to have returned with a vengeance too.

After bending a beautiful shot into the corner during France’s 7-1 thumping of Ukraine, Tolisso went one better with a laser-guided missile which reduced even the great Jan Oblak to spectator status last week.