One minute it’s bring on Jack Grealish, the next it’s where is Jack Grealish? Football moves fast, and right now the England setup is leaving the Manchester City winger behind.
That is most obvious given Grealish was watching from afar on Friday night.
Thomas Tuchel said he “loves everything about” the player, but there was a caution that should serve as a wake-up call when the England boss explained the player’s omission from his first-ever squad.
“Lately he simply has no rhythm, and he knows that himself,” Tuchel said. “I think Jack gets better and better the more minutes he plays.”
The reality is that Grealish is half as important as he used to be to Pep Guardiola, and that can be backed up by simple numbers, with the winger’s Premier League minutes falling from 2,063 in the 2022-23 season to 1,001 in 2023-24.
This season, Grealish has clocked 605 minutes in the league, and after 29 games that trajectory puts him on course for fewer than 800 come the end of the season.
That would be the lowest total of his career. An 18-year-old Grealish played 2,828 minutes of League One football on loan at Notts County in 2013-14, the season he ended by making his Aston Villa debut off the bench – two minutes against, ironically, Manchester City.
Grealish then managed more than 800 minutes in the following two league campaigns after breaking into the Villa side.
The rest is history. The rise well documented. The £100m move to Manchester City in 2021. The most marketable England player since David Beckham. The iconic look, a hairstyle copied in playgrounds nationwide, and the off-pitch habits parents would advise against.
He has had fun, has lived a life that makes him the envy of countless wannabe footballers, but crucially the 29-year-old has backed that all up with silverware.
And yet, two words which could come to define his career, his value to both City and England continues to fluctuate.
With England the clamour first reached fever pitch on social media at Euro 2020 – “bring on Grealish” yelled at many a pub screen four years ago – but back then he was below Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling in the Gareth Southgate’s pecking order.
Come the 2022 World Cup, Grealish was once more the nearly-man, this time Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden all favoured over him on the left wing throughout the tournament.
It reduced Grealish to five appearances off the bench in Qatar, which summed up his 2022 overall for England, where nine of his 11 caps came as a substitute.
This World Cup bulldozed its way three months into Grealish’s best campaign in a City shirt. Though largely overlooked by Southgate, he grew in stature for his club and became an instrumental figure towards the tail-end of a season that ended with an historic Treble.
Grealish was there, clutching the Champions League trophy having played every minute of the final. He was on the pitch for every second against Bayern Munich in the quarters and Real Madrid in the semis, too, playing the Guardiola way – no longer looking as suffocated as he had done previously in sky blue.
It didn’t last. The arrival of Jeremy Doku was the death knell, with the Belgian winger taking his place and then seemingly given the freedom to do everything that was drilled out of Grealish: dribble, dribble, dribble.
Then came the omission from Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad, and though an “absolutely heartbroken” Grealish said it was “football-wise the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in terms of my own career”, it was not enough to spark what many felt was the necessary move.
It was admirable but probably foolish for Grealish to think he could work his way back into Guardiola’s plans, for despite fleeting spells of importance, he has rarely been fully trusted for a prolonged period of time.
Appearances are one barometer for that, and so too are transfers, for beyond Doku even January signing Omar Marmoush has started recent matches on the left wing. Grealish, who has not started a league game since December, is now even drifting away from Guardiola’s in-game plans.
“I feel so sorry for the players who do not play,” Guardiola said after leaving Grealish on the bench in last Saturday’s Brighton & Hove Albion draw. “When we have games every three days the rotation is easy but now I have to decide every game for the quality the players have.”
Even with City chasing a win, Grealish stayed on the sidelines, and that coupled with this omission from Tuchel’s squad means it is time to say goodbye – or else he is in danger of being England’s forgotten man.
And while younger left wingers like Jamie Gittens are knocking on the door, Grealish has been shown it is not too late. He can take inspiration from Rashford, who earned an England recall after his impressive start on loan at Villa.
Rashford has shown this door is never closed, particularly with a new manager at the helm, but his return also proves game time is of vital importance. Of course it is, you could say, while it’s time for Grealish to realise that too, he has probably known for some time. We aren’t in his shoes, though, and it would be understandable if he fears a move signals a backwards step, when if anything it should be a leap in the right direction.
So… where next for Jack Grealish?
A return to Villa? They have arguably moved on since his departure and Unai Emery may struggle to find a place for the club’s former captain in his starting XI.
This transfer would though have a sprinkle of romance, providing there is room for repentance given a sizeable chunk of Villa supporters have jeered Grealish upon his returns to Villa Park, but finances will be a concern for Villa. They have walked a Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) tightrope of late, Emery admitting the rules have forced Villa to find “different ways” to be resourceful, although Jhon Duran’s departure did at least pave the way for Rashford to arrive on loan.
Villa have an option to buy Rashford in the summer for £40m, but should that not materialise there is a place out on the left wing available that Grealish could look to reclaim.
Beyond this potential return, Tottenham Hotspur – the club he almost joined in 2018 – are another option, while the rumour mill is strongly linking Grealish with Newcastle United – Chronicle Live claiming the player is open to joining the top-five chasing Carabao Cup winners.
That would put Grealish in direct competition with Anthony Gordon, unless the latter leaves, and with Newcastle also juggling PSR constraints the past few seasons, even a cut-price Grealish may not fit their profile.
It may then come down to what fee City will want for Grealish, and what salary he may demand, if he is indeed allowed to leave.
If money is the concern, therefore, then step forward Chelsea. City’s Club World Cup pals can earn sizeable prize money in the summer tournament, and they could offer a new home for Grealish on the wing providing they sort out their Jadon Sancho conundrum.
Another option is going abroad. Grealish in Barcelona? Bayern Munich? AC Milan? They all sound enticing, and could pave the way for a route back into Tuchel’s plans. With the World Cup next year, this is the summer that matters. Grealish would be wise to move on.
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