Tuchel says City case is a talking point but sees no training distraction

Thomas Tuchel has acknowledged that Manchester City's financial-rules case is a major subject of conversation among England players, while saying he has not seen it disrupt training or team meetings. The Guardian reported on Friday that the England head coach considered concern about the club's future an understandable reaction for its players, without claiming to know how far the issue was affecting them.

Watch the highlights:

City were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules and announced on Friday that they would appeal, according to the newspaper. The club maintain their innocence. Tuchel also said he would be willing to continue selecting City players if the club were relegated, making clear that such an outcome would not automatically end their England involvement. Relegation was discussed as a possibility, not a confirmed punishment.

Asked whether the case had become a distraction, Tuchel initially accepted that description before qualifying his answer. He said the subject came up over breakfast and dinner, with City players receiving numerous messages and calls. However, he distinguished those conversations from what he had observed in football activities: he had not noticed a distraction in meetings, in their behaviour towards teammates or on the training pitch.

Tuchel said uncertainty over the future of a club would naturally concern young, ambitious players. His comments stopped short of a definitive assessment of their individual feelings. The Football Association subsequently prevented a question about whether the case posed a danger to English football, the Guardian reported, leaving that wider issue unanswered at the briefing.

The England squad selected for this camp included three City players: Elliot Anderson, Marc Guéhi and Nico O'Reilly. O'Reilly has since withdrawn through injury. Despite Guéhi making an error in the defeat by Spain and Anderson struggling in the victory over Czechia, Tuchel said he believed both were ready to start against Croatia.

England have three points from two matches and sit second in Nations League Group A3. With the Croatia game scheduled for Saturday night, Tuchel's account presented a distinction between an issue attracting attention away from the pitch and one visibly affecting squad work. His stated observations offered no evidence of the latter, even as he acknowledged that the case remained a regular topic within the camp.