Manchester City and Jack Grealish are open to a parting of ways in the summer transfer window, Sports Mole understands.
The 29-year-old still has two years remaining on his contract at the Etihad Stadium, but his future is unclear heading into next season, with a growing sense that he would benefit from a transfer away from the Citizens ahead of next season.
It has previously been reported that Grealish will seek assurances from manager Pep Guardiola when holding showdown talks over his future at the club.
Sports Mole have now been told that Grealish and Man City are willing to part ways this summer, with the Citizens preferring to send the attacker out on loan.
The eight-time Premier League champions are reluctant to send Grealish to a fellow Premier League club who could rival them for a Champions League spot.
However, Grealish’s £300,000-a-week wages would be an issue towards any potential move away, as Premier League clubs who are not chasing a top-five finish would struggle to stump up enough of that cash.
Man City open to Grealish loan exit, but reluctant to send him to PL rival
Grealish was a British-record signing when he made the eye-catching move to Man City from boyhood club Aston Villa for £100m in August 2021.
The left-sided attacker has made a total 157 appearances for Guardiola’s side and has won three Premier League titles, one Champions League and one FA Cup during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
Grealish played an integral role in Man City’s historic 2022-23 treble-winning campaign, but he has since failed to make the desired impact and has fallen down the pecking order.
Man City’s No.10 endured a frustrating 2024 when he failed to score a single goal in 32 games across all competitions, eventually ending his 16-month drought with a converted penalty in an FA Cup victory over Salford City in January of this year.
Grealish watched on as an unused substitute as Man City suffered a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, while he has started only seven of his 20 Premier League appearances this season, with the likes of Omar Marmoush, Jeremy Doku and Savinho all preferred ahead of him on the left flank.
What does the future hold for Jack Grealish?
Guardiola recently suggested to the media that a decision on Grealish’s future will be made when discussions take place between the player’s representatives, outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain and his successor Hugo Viana.
“We didn’t talk – I didn’t talk with him,” Guardiola told reporters. “People don’t believe me, but these things belong to the agents and the club and Txiki, and in this case Hugo as well. Both will decide.”
Newcastle United and Grealish’s former club Aston Villa have previously been credited with an interest in the Englishman, but Man City’s reluctance to strengthen a top-five rival seemingly rules them both out of the running.
A switch to Tottenham Hotspur has also been mooted and a loan to the capital could appeal to both parties, especially now that Ange Postecoglou‘s side have qualified for next season’s Champions League courtesy of their Europa League final triumph over Manchester United on Wednesday.
Wherever he ends up next season, Grealish will want assurances over regular first-team football as he attempts to resurrect his club career and force his way back into the England set-up under new head coach Thomas Tuchel ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
The attacker, who was omitted from Gareth Southgate‘s England squad for Euro 2024, was also left out of Tuchel’s first Three Lions squad in March, and it remains to be seen whether he will be selected ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Andorra and a friendly with Senegal next month.
