Alan Shearer believes Jack Grealish must leave Manchester City amid his unused substitute appearance in the FA Cup final.
Grealish was named on the bench at Wembley as Crystal Palace won 1-0 to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
With City chasing an equaliser in the 76th minute, boss Pep Guardiola brought on Phil Foden and debutante Claudio Echeverri.
He also introduced Ilkay Gundogan in the latter stages, with Grealish left to watch from the sidelines before the full-time whistle blew.
Guardiola’s decision marked a continued lack of minutes for the 29-year-old winger, and Shearer believes that the cup final snub shows beyond any reasonable doubt that Grealish’s Etihad Stadium career is over.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, the Newcastle legend said: “Did it surprise me yesterday [that City lost]?
“No, because that’s what they’ve been like all season. They didn’t deserve to win it, they didn’t do enough to win it.
“You’ve mentioned Jack Grealish, his time is up at Man City. He has to leave.
“For him [Guardiola] to bring a debutante on, a young boy, and Gundogan on when they’re desperate for a goal rather than Jack Grealish… his time is up, he’s done at Man City, he has to leave.
“For whatever reason, Pep’s done with him. He doesn’t like him, his time is up, it really is.”
Grealish had a standout spell at boyhood club Aston Villa, scoring 32 goals across 213 appearances, before signing for City in 2021.
He joined in a £100million deal, which was then the most expensive transfer in Premier Legaue history.
The winger made 31 starts in all competitions during his first season as City won their second of four consecutive league titles.
Grealish then appeared in all of their Champions League matches en route to winning the competition for the first time ever in 2023.
However, injury issues affected his game time in the 2023/24 campaign and he’s made just seven starts in the league this season.
City fans will be disappointed with the outcome of the move, and former star Micah Richards thinks they haven’t seen his true quality.
“You know what’s sad though? The fact that players make moves, and sometimes it just doesn’t work out for whatever reason,” Richards said.
“But I feel as though Jack’s played within himself. If he’d gone there and be losing the ball because he was trying to take people on and making the wrong pass or whatever…
“I don’t feel like we’ve seen the real Jack Grealish.”
City’s defeat to Palace on Saturday means they’ve gone trophyless for the first time since the 2016/17 season, Guardiola’s first at the club.
However, they can still qualify for the Champions League and will next face Bournemouth on Tuesday night, live on talkSPORT.
