Jack Grealish has endured a difficult time at Manchester City since his record-breaking transfer from Aston Villa, resulting in him being dropped from the starting eleven for club and country, but Pol Ballus and Sam Lee of The Athletic revealed that Pep Guardiola had big plans for the 27-year-old upon his arrival.
Grealish was being considered as a false nine by Guardiola when he joined City, with conversations occurring on the training ground, but ‘results were not convincing’. Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva were instead used last season with varying degrees of success.
Consistency has been an issue for the England international, with Grealish scoring seven goals with four assists from 55 games, so it hasn’t worked using him in his best role either. As things stand, it’s been two months without a league goal and no assist this season.
Grealish was dropped for City’s last Premier League game before the World Cup, being an unused substitute in their 2-1 defeat to Brentford, and he’s had similar treatment for the Three Lions – benched in England’s 6-2 win over Iran.
You can see Guardiola’s thinking of Grealish in a false nine role, as he likes to drift inside to find space. But Erling Haaland’s arrival means City now have a more traditional striker to supply.
In other news, report from Spain claims Man City could replace Pep Guardiola with Mikel Arteta
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