Thomas Tuchel says he is ready to carry on picking Manchester City players even if they are in the Championship. The England head coach spoke as the fallout from City's guilty verdict for breaching Premier League spending rules continues to overshadow the Nations League campaign.
City case dominates England camp
Tuchel admitted the City case has been a hot topic of conversation in the England camp because the players are “young and ambitious” and are worried about their futures. City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League spending rules, which could see them kicked out of the top flight or face a huge points deduction that would see them relegated.
England pair Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson could face Croatia in the Nations League on Saturday, and Tuchel admits it has been the talk of the dressing room. When asked whether he would pick City players if they were relegated, Tuchel said: “There's always a possibility. 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.”
Players concerned about futures
Tuchel says he totally understands why the players have been talking about it, but says they have not been distracted in training. He added: “I mean, we had some time off and some time between the matches, and it's a big subject. If I say now it's not, then I can just speak for myself, which would be totally narrow-minded. I think it is a distraction. It is. Let's say it is a subject.
“We speak about it at dinner and at a table of eight or twelve 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. 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.”
No relegation clauses in contracts
Guehi only joined City in January, Anderson arrived for £116m in the summer, and Nico O’Reilly has returned to his club for treatment on an injury. But none of them have relegation clauses in their City contracts. City superstar Erling Haaland struggled in his first game for Norway, as they lost 2-1 to Wales on Thursday, since the judgement.
