Jack Grealish has played every minute of Manchester City's FA Cup campaign so far, but given that the calibre of opposition is about to get much tougher then he could bow out
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Updated 22:34, 29 Mar 2025
Jack Grealish faces dropping back down to the bench
Jack Grealish faces dropping back down to the bench(Image: Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola has refused to give Jack Grealish any guarantees about his future at Manchester City.
The £100million midfielder has played just 605 Premier League minutes this season and was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad for the two World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia. Grealish, who will turn 30 in September, will need more action if he is going to make it to next year’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
He has played every minute in all three games against Salford, Leyton Orient and Plymouth as City have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals - but the writing will be on the wall if he misses out when the Blues travel to Bournemouth.
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Asked if he expected Grealish to seek a new challenge in the summer, Guardiola said: “I am not going to talk individually about what happens in the future.
“The future is Bournemouth and then Leicester. I'm sorry, I'm not involved. When we don't have any titles to fight for I can understand completely and they (the players) can do it privately with the club.
"It's fine. But I'm not involved - and I don't want to be involved because we are here to do our job and help Man City win games. That is what we have to do."
Grealish has only played 605 minutes in the Premier League this season
Grealish has only played 605 minutes in the Premier League this season
Discussing Grealish's future earlier this month, after the former Aston Villa man had been pictured in a North East social club, Guardiola said: “He’s so famous, people follow him. Nothing to comment.
“A day off is a day off, there is no training. They (the players) know what they have to do. They have private lives to do whatever they want. I’m not going to control what they do in their private life. I judge what I see on the pitch, the training sessions and the performances in the game. That’s where I judge the players.”
“I wanted Jack at his best, of course, but he had setbacks and didn’t play but that was sometimes for the injuries.
Guardiola is unable to give Grealish the assurances he needs
Guardiola is unable to give Grealish the assurances he needs
"He could not get the rhythm that you need for being ready every three days. Jack played really good the last game (against Plymouth) and hopefully he can have the consistency.”
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