Thomas Tuchel names Manchester City star as dream addition to England squad

England National Team manager Thomas Tuchel has named a member of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City squad as one player he would add to his current international ranks.

The former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager took over from Gareth Southgate as Three Lions boss in October 2024 after England’s 2-1 European Championship final defeat to Spain at the Olympiastadion Berlin last summer.

Tuchel’s Chelsea side got the upper hand over Guardiola and City in the German’s first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, when the 51-year-old led the west London outfit to UEFA Champions League glory after beating Manchester City in the final.

That year, Chelsea also eliminated Manchester City from the FA Cup with a 1-0 triumph at Wembley courtesy of Hakim Ziyech’s winner, also claiming a late 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League in what was a trio of defeats for the 2021 Premier League winners at the hands of Tuchel in the space of months.

Three years on from him being relieved of his duties as Chelsea manager, Tuchel has been tasked with leading the England National Men’s Team to 2026 FIFA World Cup glory – after years of coming close but failing to get over the line.

England went out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup at the semi-final stage after defeat to Croatia. Italy handed the Three Lions a gutting European Champions final loss on penalties in 2021 at Wembley. Southgate’s side were again unable to go all the way when they came up short against Spain in last year’s European Championship final.

The pressure is as high as ever for an England manager to shut down the squad’s critics and deliver a major trophy for the first time in over 50 years as Tuchel and co prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.

In an interview with talkSPORT this week, the German was tasked with naming one player in world football he would add to his current England squad. After some initial thought, Tuchel looked back on his days as Chelsea manager when his Blues side frequently came up against Guardiola’s Manchester City.

“Rodri, but not injured,” replied Tuchel, signifying how highly the current Ballon d’Or holder is held amongst the best coaches in world football following his rise as arguably the best midfielder in world football in recent years in England.

It is worth remembering that Rodri was not part of Guardiola’s starting XI in the 2021 Champions League final defeat against Chelsea in Lisbon, where the Manchester City manager in unorthodox fashion named a lineup that did not feature either Rodri or Fernandinho to hold the fort in front of the backline.

Rodri was instrumental in Manchester City’s historic 2022-23 treble-winning campaign, scoring the winner in the UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan as Guardiola and co ended years of heartbreak with a deserved 1-0 win in Istanbul.

The 28-year-old spearheaded City to a fourth successive Premier League title in the following season, where he also played a crucial role in Spain’s European Championship title crown, which made him the first player in Manchester City history to win the highly coveted Ballon d’Or trophy in 2024.