Tuchel admits he never spoke to City players after Premier League guilty verdict

Thomas Tuchel admitted he did not speak to his Manchester City players about the Premier League’s bombshell guilty verdict, which landed less than three hours before England kicked off their UEFA Nations League fixture against Czech Republic in Prague on Tuesday.

An independent commission confirmed City had breached Premier League financial rules across the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons, with investigators detailing what were described as “sham deals” in a ruling that sent shockwaves through the sport. The Etihad club now face severe sanctions.

Despite the timing, City’s England internationals Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson played their part in a composed 2-0 victory over the 10-man hosts. Fellow City player Nico O’Reilly missed the match through injury.

“I did not,” Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live when asked whether he had checked in on his City players. “I have a bad conscience now. I’m just focused on everything we have to deal with here and to prepare the team, so I did not talk to them about the issue and I will not comment on it.”

Tuchel was also blocked from answering a question about the verdict by England’s press officer during the post-match press conference, and no City-connected players spoke to media in the mixed zone at the Fortuna Arena.

England captain Harry Kane said he was largely unaware of the news during the game itself. “To be honest, I just literally found out now,” Kane said after the match. “I didn’t know it’d been official until after the game. It’s not for me to comment on right now. I need to obviously understand more of the information, but I understand it’s a big topic right now and you can’t shy away from it. But when I’m with England, it’s about England and that’s what we focus on. It’s Croatia on Saturday now.”

Tuchel was full of praise for how Guehi and Anderson performed under the circumstances. “Marc today was absolutely excellent after a tough match against Spain,” he said. “The reaction was on the highest level. He was absolutely excellent and Elliot Anderson had a very good match as well.”

England travel to Rijeka to face Croatia before concluding this four-match Nations League camp against Czech Republic at Wembley the following Tuesday. Tuchel confirmed that both O’Reilly and Ezri Konsa will be assessed ahead of the weekend fixture.