£100m issue & Villa lure as Jack Grealish fights to save Man City career

Jack Grealish is always a talking point.

The first British player to cost a nine-figure sum receives some of the biggest cheers of anyone in the Manchester City squad at grounds up and down the country…and the biggest boos while the game is on. His price-tag and reputation puts more scrutiny on his game, and there are fresh questions to answer after his poor form for the Blues saw him left out of an England squad that has now, somehow, reached the semi-finals of the European Championship.

With gossip that he could be leaving City failing to go away despite all sensible signs pointing towards him staying at the club, our writers look at what Grealish and the club will be thinking at a crucial point in his career at the Etihad.

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Simon Bajkowski

Jack Grealish is obviously staying at City this season, where he is effectively auditioning for his future. Pep Guardiola is prepared to continue with the forward because he knows how good he can be, but if there has still only been one good season at the end of his fourth year at the Etihad then City will not be as keen to keep him.

As well as the fact City aren’t looking to sell him, one of the reasons he was never going anywhere this summer was because of the value he still has. Arsenal are one of a few clubs that could afford him, but their interest appears to have been either misinterpreted or manufactured from an opinion piece on a website rather than backed by any actual news or facts.

Once again, the question comes up of how you would replace a City player if they were to leave, and once again it is difficult. Grealish brings such rare qualities to the team with his performances that Guardiola pushed for his £100m release clause to be broken in 2021 because he could not see the same talent elsewhere.

Grealish hasn’t shown that enough, but there still has been enough to keep him and push him to prove how good he is all over again.

Joe Bray

Now the brutal nature of his Euro 2024 omission has died down, Grealish seems to be putting his head down ahead of the new season. He will know exactly why he lost his place for City last season, and why that translated into an opportunity for Gareth Southgate to drop him in the summer. And he’s experienced enough to know how to fix it – he did it in his second season at City after all.

The prospect of a transfer away has always been fanciful. City won’t want to sell their record signing, and know he can rediscover his form next season. Even if they did want to get rid, asking someone to pay £100m for a player who turns 29 in September is an almost-impossible task, even if he is a treble-winner and three-time Premier League champion. His value remains at the Etihad, and there will be confidence that he can turn things around again.

Grealish has been training at the City Football Academy, and publicising his holiday fitness sessions on social media, and will have a full pre-season to hit the ground running. With the likes of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez still on international duty, and Jeremy Doku enjoying some time off, Grealish has an opportunity to start the new campaign with the left-wing shirt.

It’s up to him to keep it, which is far from guaranteed, but there is a clear path to save his City career and a pivotal summer in which to help himself turn things around quickly.

Richard Cusack

He just seems absolutely destined to return to Aston Villa at some stage. The supporters there have slowly forgiven Grealish for moving having watched him lift trophy after trophy and they are at terms with their talisman’s departure nearly three years on.

City have to buy players for the here and now which is why they decided to splash out a nine-figure sum on Grealish who, with his profile at the time rising in the Premier League, had nearly racked up 200 League appearances by the time he moved to Pep Guardiola’s side.

He was already 25, soon to turn 26, when he signed for City and older and wiser now at 28, he will be desperate to turn the narrative away from a potential departure to becoming a key player for Guardiola again.

Where City have to be realistic is with financial fair play rules. Grealish’s value will start to diminish as he gets older and his contract is already halfway through, meaning that will also count against the club in potential negotiations as well.

If he moves, it’s a question of who can afford him? Arsenal have been mentioned, but there’s no sign of a Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain coming in for him which is why City are probably better off keeping a top player who is in tune with Guardiola’s demands and whose form dipped at a torrid time for him personally last season with the break in of his house.

I think he stays at City, maybe for another year or two, and then returns to a resurgent Villa who are a completely different club to the one he left in 2021 before he approaches the end of his career.

Jack Flintham

Grealish will be under no illusions as to how last season panned out for him. From injury to a lack of minutes on the pitch when fit, the 29-year-old knows he has to impress this summer to earn his place back in the City squad particularly considering Jeremy Doku moves from strength to strength.

From City’s perspective, it seems impossible that they will sell him in the summer unless an audacious bid is submitted. Any sale will undoubtedly be less than what the Blues paid for him back in 2021 so why bother?

Instead, this season should be used to rebuild Grealish’s confidence. Perhaps using him sparingly to begin with as an impact substitution and then taking it from there.

Any sale should not be considered at this stage as the financial drawbacks far out weigh the need to offload him.