Sunday was a good day for Jack Grealish, whose optimism may well have peaked to its highest for three years before it came crashing back down this week.
Back at his old digs on the weekend, Everton upset Aston Villa, while Grealish was even offered a warm response from the Villa Park faithful after full-time as he saluted the Holte End.
The 30-year-old was then all smiles in the tunnel, the leading Englishman for assists in the Premier League this season looking relaxed when sharing a joke with England manager Thomas Tuchel.
“Available in March, by any chance?” Or so the conversation may have gone. England face Uruguay and Japan in two months’ time, two friendlies that will help Tuchel turn pencil to pen on his World Cup squad.
On current form, on this season’s form, Grealish would have more than earned his recall, and at that Wembley double-header he could easily have staked a claim to start for England this summer in the process.
But whether Tuchel would have taken the plunge on Grealish for the first time as England manager will remain a mystery, with a foot stress fracture keeping Grealish out for at least 12 weeks.
The timing is a sickening blow for Everton and primarily Grealish, who may have been repeatedly overlooked by Tuchel but never looked beaten, with each omission seemingly spurring him on.
There is a chance to be a national hero in North America this summer and Grealish was on the path to playing his part. He was heartbroken to miss out on Euro 2024 under Gareth Southgate, and was doing all he could in response to Tuchel’s subsequent plea – leaving City, getting minutes at Everton, and rolling back the years under David Moyes.
It was a bold move that paved the way for his England return. Grealish has dictated play at Everton like he did at Villa, albeit with the added aura that age and seven trophies at City brings, and he was on course for his best season in years.
Now though his season may have a few games left, and while the injury is unlikely to deter Everton from attempting to make this move permanent in the summer – when The i Paper has reported the club have a grand £70m plan to rebuild to squad – his World Cup prospects are all-but over.
He would have to make a late, stunning play to make the plane, but the reality is those hopes are slim to nil.
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Aiding his cause is that England’s starting place on the left wing remains up for grabs, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon the leading contenders but neither performing strongly enough to make that position their own.
Rashford has one goal and one assist in his last seven league games for Barcelona, somewhat curbing the positive start he had made in Spain, while Gordon’s return of two league goals is at odds with his Champions League form, where he has scored five times.
Grealish would have to go some to turn Tuchel’s head for another conversation, making this injury a rotten reminder of football’s cruelty and how quickly momentum, and smiles, can vanish.
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