Alan Shearer believes Saturday’s FA Cup final showed that one player must now leave Manchester City.
The Citizens were beaten at Wembley Stadium for the second year in a row, losing this time to Crystal Palace.
Ebere Eze got the only goal of the game to hand the Eagles the first major trophy in their history.
Saturday’s final was a chance for Manchester City to take the first step in having a respectable finish to the season. But, while Dean Henderson could have been sent off, City just didn’t deserve to win the game.
Fans will now hope that Pep Guardiola can ensure that Champions League football is secured, with Bournemouth up next on Tuesday.
And it will be interesting to see if Jack Grealish plays any part in that game, after getting snubbed by Guardiola in the FA Cup final.
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Alan Shearer adamant Jack Grealish is finished at Man City and must leave
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
The writing could be on the wall for Grealish at Man City now, after he did not play any minutes in the final against Palace.
Grealish featured in all five of City’s FA Cup games before the final, starting four of them.
But, despite City chasing the game, Guardiola did not turn to him from the bench on Saturday.
And it may have been a kick in the teeth for Grealish to see the Manchester City manager hand Claudio Echeverri a debut.
Guardiola also only used three substitutes in total in the game.
Alan Shearer was speaking about Grealish on the latest Rest Is Football podcast – and is adamant the winger is now finished at City and must leave.
He said: “You’ve mentioned Jack Grealish. His time’s up at Man City. He has to leave. For him to bring a debutant on, a young boy, and Gundogan when they’re desperate for a goal, rather than Jack Grealish… his time’s up. He’s done at Man City.
“He has to leave. For whatever reason, Pep’s done with him, he doesn’t like him, his time’s up, it really is.”
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Grealish should leave but Man City exit could be complicated
It is difficult to see how Grealish comes back from his snub in the FA Cup final.
We all know that Grealish is not a big goalscorer, but surely he had to come on ahead of Echeverri on Saturday.
It did just suggest how Guardiola really views him right now, and it doesn’t look good.
Grealish has been open about his struggles after missing out on England’s Euro 2024 squad and the player has seemingly had difficulty recovering from that.
Jack Grealish for Man City this season
Appearances – 31
Minutes played – 1520
Goals – 3
Assists – 5
There could well be other things behind his poor form that no one knows about.
But Shearer is probably right – Grealish needs to leave City, especially with a big rebuild on the horizon.
But there is potentially going to be one big stumbling block and that is regarding his wages.
Grealish – who does have interest from Saudi Arabia – is one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, and while English clubs may be interested in him, they may not be willing to match his demands.