Tuchel says Manchester City case is a concern for England players

Thomas Tuchel said on Friday in Rijeka, Croatia, that Manchester City’s financial-rules case has become a regular topic among England players preparing to face Croatia. The England head coach said concern among City’s young players would be understandable, while stressing that he has seen no effect on their work in camp. City has appealed an independent commission’s findings, and no sanction has been announced.

Tuchel told reporters the case comes up at breakfast and dinner. He said City players receive many messages and calls about it, and described worry as a human reaction when young players do not know what will happen to the club they joined. He did not identify a player who had told him privately that they feared for their future.

That distinction matters for Tuchel’s assessment. He acknowledged the case was a subject for the squad, but said he could not see it affecting City players in meetings, in their dealings with teammates or in training. His comments describe the atmosphere around the players; they do not establish how any individual player feels.

Which Manchester City players are in England’s camp?

Tuchel selected Elliot Anderson, Marc Guéhi and Nico O’Reilly for this England camp, according to the Guardian’s report from Rijeka. O’Reilly subsequently withdrew through injury. Tuchel said Anderson and Guéhi were ready to start against Croatia on Saturday, despite uneven performances in England’s recent matches.

What the Premier League commission decided

The Premier League said an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges concerning serious breaches of its financial rules across nine seasons, from 2009/10 to 2017/18. It also upheld three of four alleged breaches of the club’s duties to cooperate with the league’s investigation. City maintains its innocence and has challenged the findings.

According to the league’s published summary, the commission found that commercial and other arrangements misrepresented the club’s finances. The league said those arrangements inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900 million over the period, and that the club filed misstated accounts. Those are findings reported by the Premier League, now subject to City’s appeal; they are not a decision about any player’s conduct.

The league said its investigation began in December 2018. An independent commission later held a 42-day hearing that ended in December 2024. The time taken to reach a decision helps explain why the case has remained in the background of City and England coverage, but the current question for the players is what the unfinished process may mean for their club.

What City’s appeal leaves unresolved

Manchester City filed an appeal on 1 October, according to the Associated Press, arguing that the commission’s opinion contained material errors of law, principle and fact. AP reported that the Premier League confirmed the appeal. The Guardian also reported on Friday that City had announced it was appealing the verdict.

The Premier League said sanctions would be considered separately after the findings. Its statement lists possible sanctions under league rules, including fines, points deductions and other sporting measures, without saying which, if any, will be imposed in this case. An appeal board may uphold, dismiss or alter the decision. Neither the appeal nor the separate sanction process has produced a published outcome.

That leaves City’s league status and any consequence for its players’ club futures unsettled. Tuchel’s willingness to consider City players if the club were relegated addresses a possible selection question; it is not evidence that relegation will happen. His more immediate judgment is narrower: the case is on players’ minds, but he has not seen it interfere with their England work.

Tuchel’s comments came before England’s Nations League match against Croatia. The Guardian reported that the Football Association stopped a further question to him about whether the City case posed a danger to English football. For the players in this camp, the next confirmed sporting event is the Croatia game; for the club, the appeal and any sanction decision remain pending.