Pep Guardiola was angered by suggestions that he has fallen out with Jack Grealish, though did admit the winger could leave Manchester City.
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Grealish left out of Man City squad for final gameSuggestions of rift with managerGuardiola denies falling outFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Grealish's game-time dwindled for Manchester City during the course of the 2024-25 season, clocking only 715 minutes in 20 Premier League games. He was notably left out of the matchday squad to face Fulham on the final day of the campaign, with his team-mates picking up a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage.
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It has been suggested that Grealish's reduced importance to City has been due to a falling out with Guardiola, but the Catalan coach strongly refuted such claims at his final post-match press conference of the season.
WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID
Guardiola was asked about Grealish's omission on the final day, to which he replied: "It was selection. The last two months, I’ve had to leave five or six players at home every time. This time, I decided it was these guys. No more than that. Of course, Jack has to play. Jack is an unbelievable player who has to play football every single day, every three days. It didn’t happen this season and last season neither, they need to do it with us or in another place. But that is a question of Jack, his agent and the club. If he stays, we’ll be fine, he will fight like he fought since day one when he arrived. But today it’s for something else, for example I rotate and Rico [Lewis] and Macca [James McAtee] was not there and [Abdukodir] Khusanov and Vitor [Reis] and [Claudio] Echeverri was here. So it was there. I try to move the players like it was nothing. Today, it was Jack."
The City boss was then confronted with another Grealish question, and he quickly snapped: "No, don’t ask me about Jack, please! Who said I’m not happy with him? Why don’t you ask me about McAtee for example? It’s not personal, I don’t have any problem with the players. If you are saying I’m selecting them they’re not in trouble or I’m not selecting them they are in trouble, it’s not about that. I had to get rid of six players last game, today five because [Mateo] Kovacic was sent off last game, otherwise it’d be six again. I treat Jack like I treat Khusanov, like I treat Vitor and McAtee. It is not anything personal about Jack. What happens in the future is a job for Hugo [Viana, new sporting director], Txiki [Begiristain, outgoing sporting director] and agents, not me.”
When finally asked if he wants Grealish to stay, Guardiola shouted: "Next one."
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR GREALISH?
City paid £100m to sign Grealish from Aston Villa back in 2021, and he still has two years left to run on his contract at the Etihad Stadium. He could yet feature for Guardiola's side at the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
