Pep Guardiola has said Jack Grealish’s long-term future at Manchester City will depend on the 30-year-old himself as the winger prepares to return from his loan spell at Everton. City are due to face Everton on Monday night, but Guardiola made clear that the bigger issue is what comes next for Grealish.
“I don’t know. I want the best for Jack,” Guardiola said. “It depends on him. It depends absolutely on him. The quality is no doubt, everything is there.”
Grealish moved to Everton last August in search of regular football and made an immediate impact, scoring two goals and setting up six more in his first 20 Premier League appearances. His season was then cut short by a stress fracture in his foot, leaving him to focus on recovery and regaining full fitness before pre-season.
Guardiola said he had been encouraged by what he saw from Grealish at Everton and pointed back to the winger’s peak at City. “I know the impact [at Everton] was really good, playing the minutes that he had in the treble season,” he said. “The Treble season [he] was extraordinary and after that maybe I didn’t help him or maybe we couldn’t reach the level that he had.”
The comments underline how much of Grealish’s career has been shaped by the question of playing time. He was a key figure in City’s 2023 treble-winning campaign, but his role at the club had diminished before the loan move, prompting the switch to Everton in the first place. Guardiola said the formula at his next club was simple: “And he needs [to play] game, game, game and Everton [he] had [that].”
That leaves the forward at a crossroads, with his return to City coming at a moment when the squad could be changing around him. Bernardo Silva and John Stones are set to depart this summer, and those exits could open space in City’s attacking and midfield rotations. Guardiola said the final call on Grealish’s role is unlikely to be made now, adding that it will probably become clearer in pre-season.
For now, the message from the manager is that the door remains open, but the next step belongs to Grealish. “Unfortunately the injury, but hopefully he can recover and next season can continue to play,” Guardiola said. “It depends on him.”