Thomas Tuchel says Manchester City’s England players are anxious following their club’s guilty verdict for breaching Premier League financial rules, but he would still select them even if the club suffers relegation.
City face an uncertain future after an independent panel found them guilty of severe financial breaches, though they have appealed, claiming to hold "irrefutable evidence" of their innocence.
The issue has unfolded during the international window, with City members Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson and Nico O’Reilly featuring in the England squad.
While O’Reilly has returned home injured, Tuchel acknowledged it is natural for City’s players to feel concern over the club’s plight.
The German said ahead of Saturday’s Nations League clash with Croatia: “Are they worried or like are they concerned?
“I think that would be a very human reaction if you don’t know what’s going on for the club that you signed.
“They’re still young. They’re ambitious. They’re told they are totally innocent and don’t know what’s going on.
“So yeah, I think it is a subject.
“If it’s a distraction, I don’t know. It’s the honest answer, but it is of course a topic and we speak about it at dinner and at a table of eight or 12 people.
“Of course, we speak about it at breakfast. And I know that the Man City players get a lot, a lot of messages and phone calls and feedback about it.
“I am again not sure if it’s a distraction. I don’t see it when I when I see them in my meetings.
“I don’t see it how they behave with other team-mates, and I don’t see it in training being a distraction. But it’s of course a topic. Why? How can’t it be a topic?”
Tuchel says he would still consider picking City’s players even if a possible punishment could see the club playing outside the Premier League.
“There’s always a possibility,” he said. “I think I will always try to pick the best team for the camp, for the occasion, for the tournament, and I will never rule out that they don’t play in the top flight in their country.
“So you need to look at this case by case.”
Tuchel also expressed concern for another man with City ties in Raheem Sterling, with the former international’s plight “sad to see”.
Sterling, who won 82 caps for his country between 2012 and 2022, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide.
The 31-year-old, who is currently without a club, was signed for Chelsea by Tuchel in 2022.
“I have a lot of sympathy for him and I feel that he has struggled ever since he left Man City and he was at the peak of his career,” the German said.
“I was fighting for this transfer and he could never prove the importance that he normally had. It was a big step for him at that moment in time.
“It’s sad to see that someone struggles because he was a devoted father for his children and he was a family guy, a nice guy to be around.
“It just seems that he goes through a difficult period. I’m not sure how much is his fault, sometimes you just enter a strange spiral in your life, a downward spiral.
“Thoughts are with him of course, the belief is always that he can turn it around and I wish him the best.”
Tuchel is preparing for his side’s behind-closed-doors with Croatia in Rijeka, where he must decide whether to stick with Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.
The Real Madrid defender has never truly been a regular for England and Tuchel agreed that he could be approaching a ‘now or never’ situation.
“Good question. Maybe, maybe a little bit. You always have the chance, I would say,” he said.
“Once you are in camp it’s a big opportunity if other players are not here. You can impress and mark your territory and show his true capacity that no one’s doubting.
“That’s maybe the challenge for Trent: to buy a little bit into a new idea and a bit out of his comfort zone. But he’s trying and it’s never too late to prove a point.”
Tuchel also feels there is more to come from Bukayo Saka in an England shirt after a difficult World Cup which saw him battle an Achilles injury but ended in him scoring a hat-trick in the third/fourth play-off.
“I felt him more involved, and felt he was more dangerous at the start of the season – and still I think there is some level still to come when he plays for England,” he said.
“He knows it but he feels good, he feels the trust, he knows the position, he is confident enough, he is experienced enough to unlock the next level for him.
“He knows it, we know it and he has my full trust and support. And there is a big chance he starts again tomorrow. If he’s available we go again.”
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