Guardiola admits Grealish will start when improvements are seen

MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola says that midfielder Jack Grealish will only return to the starting line-up once he sees an improvement in his performances.

The English midfielder has struggled for game time this season and has made just seven league starts, despite being a key player in their treble-winning campaign last year.

His last Premier League start came on the 30th of December against bottom of the league Sheffield United, where he was replaced before the hour mark by youngster Oscar Bobb.

Speaking about Grealish, Guardiola said: “He is the same player, he has the same manager, and the way we play has not changed.

“It’s just the way he has performed. That’s the difference.

“I cannot give three or four games for them to get their rhythm, they have to [find] the rhythm if playing 90 or 20 minutes. At a high level, the team doesn’t wait.”

Man City play again tonight in the FA Cup away to Luton Town, with the ‘Cityzens’ looking to progress as they pursue their third FA Cup title in Guardiola’s tenure.

Grealish, who they signed for £100m in 2021 from Aston Villa, started in their 5-0 win over Huddersfield in the third round, but failed to make it off the bench in their previous round win over Tottenham.

When asked about whether he will start, Pep said: “It’s possible. Normally when we play Saturday to Tuesday, I don’t decide the line up and everything [in advance]. I will see the training today [Monday].”

This isn’t the first time that Guardiola has publicly ‘outed’ one of his players, with the Spaniard making comments about midfielder Kalvin Phillips’ weight in the summer, something he recently apologised for.