Manchester City star Jack Grealish reportedly tops the list of eight Premier League winners who Pep Guardiola is planning to offload at the end of the season.
The Spanish tactician wants to overhaul his squad after a poor defence of their Premier League title and early elimination from the Champions League following a 6-3 aggregate loss to Real Madrid at the play-off stage. Several players have underperformed this season and Pep Guardiola will look to cash in on a handful of them as he looks to revamp his ageing squad and replace them with fresh blood.
According to a report from The Daily Star, Jack Grealish is set to lead the Manchester City exodus this summer. The creative winger could be joined by Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson on the chopping block, with Kyle Walker having already left on loan to AC Milan during the winter window.
Grealish, 29, has struggled to cement his place in Guardiola’s starting XI of late. Due to a combination of injury problems and poor performances, the England international has managed only six Premier League starts thus far this season. And now he is set to be among the first names City wants to discard before the 2025/26 season.
That being said, here are the three potential clubs that should target Grealish.
#Arsenal
Arsenal are a club that could do well with reinforcing their forward options in the summer.
Mikel Arteta has lost Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz for the rest of the season due to injuries, while Bukayo Saka is not expected from a hamstring surgery until April. Gabriel Martinelli is also set for weeks on the sidelines following a hamstring issue, leaving the Gunners with just Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling as the recognised forwards.
With Sterling set to return to Chelsea after the expiry of his loan spell, Arsenal must dip in the transfer market for a new forward. And that brings Grealish into the picture.
The Man City star would undoubtedly bolster the Gunners’ squad, bringing a different dimension to their attack. Comfortable playing on the left, Grealish would challenge Trossard and Martinelli for a spot in Arteta’s XI. He’d also bring the winning experience that this Arsenal squad lacks.
#Aston Villa
One cannot just write off a dream return to his boyhood club! Grealish left Aston Villa in the summer of 2021 to join Man City in a £100m deal, and after winning the lot, it looks like his time at the Etihad Stadium is coming to an end.
Once a poster boy at Villa Park, Grealish would love a return to Aston Villa. Unai Emery has done an amazing job in the last couple of years, helping the club qualify for the Champions League. The Villans do boast of some highly skilled and exciting attackers in Emery’s roster, but barring Marco Asensio, none of them have a CV as great as his.
However, for Villa to lure the England international back to the Midlands, the bare minimum they must do is qualify for the Champions League again.
#Barcelona
Barcelona have enjoyed a brilliant campaign under Hansi Flick. They are eyeing for the unprecedented quadruple having already won the Spanish Super Cup last month.
In Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, Blaugrana have two outstanding wingers who have torn apart defences at will this term. However, beyond Yamal and Raphinha, they lack quality depth in wide areas of the pitch. This is where Grealish would enter the fray.
Grealish’s creative prowess, eye for goal, dribbling skills, unpredictability and rich experience would improve Barcelona’s attack tenfold. If the England international can keep himself fit, he’d be an asset to Flick’s side. Also, the challenge of testing himself in LaLiga could be a tempting prospect for him.
That being said, Barcelona must try signing Grealish in the summer by which time they will have framed the machinations of registering more players and fulfilled the required financial obligations.
