Jack Grealish (Photo by James Sutton/Sutton Images)
Jack Grealish (Photo by James Sutton/Sutton Images)
View Image
Jack Grealish has been left out of Manchester City's pre-season tour of Asia, prompting further questions about the future of last season's Everton loanee.
The England international has been back at City's training base working on his recovery after fracturing his foot in January, an injury which cut short his loan spell on Merseyside.
He has been training at both Finch Farm and City's Etihad Campus this summer as he bids to get back up to speed, but his absence from City's touring squad has added further fuel to the widespread suggestions that he will leave the club this summer.
Get YOUR Everton FC Newsletter
Get the best Everton FC news and analysis straight to your Inbox courtesy of the Echo!
It's as simple as 1-2-3.
City will play three matches on their tour, taking on Inter Milan in Hong Kong and both the K-League All-Stars and Atletico Madrid in South Korea.
But Grealish is currently in Mallorca on holiday and posted images if himself on Instagram on the island on Monday.
New City boss Enzo Maresca insisted that he was a fan of Grealish when he spoke at his introductory press conference last week, but stopped short of guaranteeing him a place in his squad.
"At the moment, he's here. He's a Man City player," Maresca said.
"I always said the same. In any club I join, I like to know if there are players that belong to the club. It's my duty to try to coach them.
"Jack is here. I have a good relation with Jack since I left (as a coach under Pep Guardiola). Also, we keep in touch, and the reason why is because he has a big heart and he's a very good guy. So this is the reason why. And then we see what happens."
Speaking about Grealish and his injury ahead of Everton's final game of last season at Tottenham, Blues boss David Moyes said: "Obviously we like Jack a lot. We’ve looked after Jack all the time since his injury. It’s looking in good order now, the surgeon speaks very well about it and thinks it’s healing greatly.
"Normally a player would go back to his parent club and be looked after from there, but we will continue doing our best for Jack.
“He is incredibly well liked inside and outside the building but ultimately he is not our player, he is Man City’s player. We’ve had him on loan for a year and I have to say we’ve enjoyed having him."