Grealish's Manchester City career is at a crossroads

MANCHESTER, England -- There was a buzz of excitement on Saturday when the Manchester City fans at the Etihad Stadium realised it was Jack Grealish who had picked up the ball to take their 49th-minute penalty in the FA Cup game against Salford City.

Without a goal in 392 days, there was a nervous anticipation in the stands as he put the ball down on the spot and a lull in the shouts of encouragement when he began his run-up.

When it hit the net -- one of eight goals scored by City on the day -- it was greeted with the biggest cheer of the afternoon. Grealish blew a kiss to the crowd before sharing a joke with striker Erling Haaland, City's usual penalty taker, as the Norway internatoinal sat on the substitutes bench. Out of form and out of the first team, Grealish remains one of City's most popular players.

The majority of the homemade signs dotted around the ground on Saturday evening were asking Grealish for his shirt. Two young fans sitting behind the benches had headbands on with their hair styled in the same way as the England forward. After a goal and two assists against Salford, Grealish walked off the pitch after the 8-0 win wearing a smile, but it hasn't always been the case over the last 18 months. A key part of Pep Guardiola's team that won the treble in 2023, he has steadily slipped down the pecking order.

The former Aston Villa skipper was left on the bench as City returned to Premier League action on Tuesday and was forced to watch on as the defending champions squandered yet another lead -- this time drawing 2-2 with Brentford after being two goals to the good.

It was a familiar situation for the mercurial attacker. Following the 4-1 win over West Ham United at the beginning of January, Guardiola went into detail about why Savinho -- the 20-year-old Brazilian winger in his first season in the league -- is currently ahead of Grealish in his thinking. Guardiola has made no secret of the fact that an overhaul of the squad is coming, possibly as early as the summer. And if Grealish -- still one of the most expensive British footballers in history at £100m -- hasn't re-established himself as a regular starter by the end of the season there will be inevitable questions about his future.

Does he stay at the Etihad and work to win an extension to his contract that is due to expire in 2027? Or, with two years left on his deal, will it be time for City to gauge interest and let him leave for the right offer?

The fact that Grealish was on the pitch at all against Salford gives an insight into his status within Guardiola's squad. Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, Phil Foden, Manuel Akanji and Mateo Kovacic were all wrapped in cotton wool on the bench with the second half of the season in mind.

Instead, it was the bit-part players like Matheus Nunes, James McAtee, Nico O'Reilly, Divin Mubama and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey who were trusted to see off the League Two side. For now, Grealish -- with six league starts all season -- is part of that group.

 

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It wasn't supposed to play out like this.

Left out of the England squad for Euro 2024, Grealish used Juventus' training facility during his summer break to get a head start before the new season. He was one of only a few senior players who took part in the preseason tour of the U.S. and there was a feeling that it was an opportunity for the 29-year-old to win back a regular place.

But after picking up an injury in training ahead of the Community Shield, he wasn't fit enough to start a game until the end of August. Nearly five months later and his season still hasn't got going.

"I want the best for my players, all of them," said Guardiola when asked about Grealish following the big win over Salford. "I want them to perform well. I want it. But in the end they have to deliver.

"But not just him, it's not only Jack. I saw him in the year of the treble and he was a main player for us, but after that there are two options: think it's me or think about what you can do better. Not Jack, everyone. I know their best [form], all the players we have here. I know their best because they helped us to win what we won."

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Guardiola has never explicitly said that Grealish lost his focus after the treble season, but there have been veiled references. Picked to start against F.C. København in the UEFA Champions League in February after five games on the bench, Guardiola said he made the decision to reinstate him "because the last few days his mood and training sessions were much, much better."

Injuries and Guardiola's ultra-structured system haven't helped, but the worry for Grealish is that his manager has been saying the same things for nearly a year.

"He has to compete with himself," said Guardiola after the win over West Ham when Grealish was restricted to just six minutes off the bench. "Savinho is in better shape and everything than Jack. I want the Jack that won the treble. You have to prove [that]. And every single day, and every single week and every single month."

There's still time for Grealish to turn things around.

In the treble season that Guardiola considers his benchmark, Grealish didn't become a certain starter until late January. Between the beginning of February 2023 until the Champions League final in Istanbul, Grealish missed only seven of City's 29 games and most of those were because he was being rested for more important fixtures. After a damaging start to this season, only Haaland can be sure of his place.

Guardiola has said he hopes Grealish's first club goal since December 2023 can "help him," but the message all along has been that first he has to help himself.

If his penalty against Salford can trigger something in Grealish to rediscover the form he showed two years ago then his place in City's rebuild won't be in doubt. But if Guardiola is still reciting the same criticisms towards the end of the campaign, his future at the Etihad will be in jeopardy.