Tuchel moved to deny such claims on Monday, insisting Saka and Rice continued to feel discomfort after their involvement with Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on the Sunday before last and, as such, had to stand down. Addressing concerns about the legitimacy of the injuries, Tuchel was firm in his stance.
“I understand the looks of it,” Tuchel said when asked about the withdrawals of Rice and Saka. “I still have 100% trust in the honesty of Declan and Bukayo. We did medical tests. I saw them. I have no reason to believe that either are not honest with me. But given the amount of Arsenal players, I understand the look. They wanted desperately to be involved – just to get the narrative straight. But they were both clearly in discomfort.”