Pep Guardiola not the one to decide on Jack Grealish’s Man City future at end of season
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Manchester City's Jack Grealish could leave the club during the summer transfer window.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON – Manchester City will make a decision on Jack Grealish’s future at the end of the season, says manager Pep Guardiola, with the English midfielder having fallen out of favour since his starring role in City’s 2023 treble-winning campaign.
The 29-year-old has made just seven English Premier League starts this term and was left on the bench as City crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace on May 17.
That snub has fuelled speculation that the winger could leave the Etihad Stadium during the summer transfer window.
Guardiola said that discussions will take place between outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain, his successor Hugo Viana and Grealish’s representatives before deciding if he will still be with City next season.
“We didn’t talk, I didn’t talk with him,” the Spaniard said on May 19.
“People don’t believe me but these things belong to the agents and the club and Txiki, and in this case Hugo as well. Both will decide. What is going to happen will happen, but he has to come back to start to play minutes again.”
Guardiola accepts that former Aston Villa star Grealish, who has two years remaining on his contract, will not be happy about his lack of action.
“It’s not only Jack. There is not one player in my locker room, and I think all the locker rooms around the world, that is happy when they do not play,” he added.
“When the team is winning and winning, they have to figure out how everything happens but they are not happy. They are here to play and, when they don’t play, they are not satisfied. That is the normal position in all the clubs.”
One player definitely leaving is Kevin de Bruyne, who was set to make his final home appearance for the club in the Premier League clash with Bournemouth on May 20 – the match kicked off after press time. The 33-year-old midfielder is out of contract in June and will depart after a glorious decade at City where he has won 16 trophies.
Despite the Belgian’s claim he is still good enough to play in the Premier League, Guardiola believes the time is right to move on after injuries and poor form reduced his effectiveness over the last two years.
“There are players who are really difficult to replace, really, really difficult for many reasons... the season we have done is the season we have done and we cannot deny it. Of course, we have to move forward,” he said. AFP
