Cruel summer for Grealish?

With games played, goals and assists on the wane, it looks likely that winger Jack Grealish will leave Manchester City but his next step is far from obvious

- Richard Jolly

Sometimes a career can be measured by what happens over summers. In 2021, Jack Grealish became the most expensive Englishman in history, the Premier League’s record signing, the £100m man. In 2023, he was the treble winner whose celebrations in Ibiza felt the stuff of legend. In 2024, he was, to his surprise, omitted from England’s European Championships squad. In 2025, it would be rather less of a shock if he is excluded from Manchester City’s Club World Cup squad.

It could be seen as the rise and fall of Grealish. He may be deemed to be at a crossroads, though one interpretation is that he has reached a dead end, at least as far as City is concerned. Grealish, 29, has started one Premier League match in 2025, appeared for a grand total of four minutes in City’s last seven top-flight fixtures and did not make the bench for their final-day win at Fulham. Pep Guardiola has said he dislikes having to leave players out of the matchday squad, that the players and the club have to find the “best way” forward. He both wants a smaller squad and is busy making signings. Something has to give. Someone has to go.