A season to forget

What Jack Grealish has gone through this season with Manchester City has been nothing short of a nightmare. The English winger started just seven matches in the Premier League, scoring only once and providing a single assist. A far cry from the level he showed during the season when the Cityzens claimed the treble. His drop in form has been so steep that he was left out of the squad for the Club World Cup — something unthinkable not long ago.

Guardiola steps up

Ahead of City’s debut at the Club World Cup, where they’ll face Wydad Casablanca, Pep Guardiola didn’t dodge the issue and took full responsibility for the player’s situation: “Jack is an exceptional player. The only reason he didn’t play last season was, of course, my decision. We decided it was better for him to stay (in England) and have a place where he could rediscover the form he showed during the treble-winning year or at Aston Villa,” explained the Spanish coach.

A future up in the air

At 29, Grealish is still considered valuable, mainly because of what he cost — City paid around 135 million dollars for him back in 2021. But between his struggles on the pitch, recurring injuries, and a salary of about 1.7 million dollars a month, his future at the Etihad has never looked so uncertain. When asked about what comes next, Guardiola chose his words carefully: “I don’t know. For now, we’ve decided not to bring him. I don’t know if his future will be in Manchester,” said the Catalan.

The challenge of rediscovering his passion

Now, with his market value down to around 32 million dollars, Grealish no longer seems to be a priority for the club. And Guardiola knows it, which is why he encouraged the player to reignite that spark for the game: “Without him, what we achieved with the treble would have been much harder. But the truth is, over the last two seasons, he hasn’t played many minutes. He needs to get back out there, to feel those butterflies in his stomach, to want to play every three days,” the manager concluded.