Jack Grealish ready to re-join Manchester City first-team as transfer uncertainty continues | OneFootball

Manchester City appear ready to reintegrate Jack Grealish into their first-team set-up in pre-season as the forward continues to face uncertainty over his club future.

The 29-year-old remains on the books at the Etihad Stadium despite a growing acceptance from both the club and manager Pep Guardiola that his long-term role in the squad may be drawing to a close.

Manchester City are yet to receive anything concrete from potential suitors but are believed to have fielded enquiries from Premier League clubs, despite concerns over teams’ ability to sanction the necessary financial and structural conditions for a deal.

Tottenham, Everton, and West Ham have all been linked with Jack Grealish in recent weeks, but the high cost of even a temporary arrangement – including a loan fee and a significant contribution to his wages – has proven to be a major stumbling block.

While Manchester City are not actively pushing Grealish out, the player did not feature at the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this summer, in a decision that was felt fair by all involved, thus allowing the player and his team to sound out new opportunities during the off-season.

Speaking on the latest edition of The Football Reporters podcast by ESPN, journalist Rob Dawson provided an in-depth update on the situation that Jack Grealish continues to find himself in this summer.

“I think the fact that he’s still a Man City player tells you everything about how difficult it is for him to get a move somewhere; he has got time left on his contract, he’s on big wages. There have been links with the likes of Everton and West Ham,” Dawson said.

“But if they were to move for someone like Grealish, you’re talking about smashing the wage structure for possibly a one-year loan, which that kind of thing just doesn’t go down well in dressing rooms. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack Grealish ends up back at City.”

Continuing on the manner in which Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have handled the situation surrounding Jack Grealish, Rob Dawson said, “I think Pep Guardiola has managed that situation in a different way – to the way that Ruben Amorim say has managed [Marcus] Rashford or [Alejandro] Garnacho at Man United – in that from right at the start when we saw him at the Club World Cup, the first question of the first press conference was obviously about Grealish because he wasn’t there.

“He left the door open for him to come back. Now, if you look at that situation, it’s really, really clear that Pep doesn’t really want him at City anymore, that he wants him to move on. But he left the door open. He said that if a move doesn’t materialise, he’s more than welcome to come back. He still has a future at City or a possible future at City.

“We’re told that once they start training or return for pre-season training after their break, that he will be allowed to train with the squad if he’s still at the club, which is different to the way that Amorim has handled Rashford and Garnacho. I don’t think there’s any problem with Grealish really in the personality in the dressing room because he’s really well liked in that dressing room, I don’t think the players would mind having him back.”

But where could Jack Grealish really take his career next? Dawson went on to explain, “I think really it’s simply that if Grealish wants to play week-in-week-out and wants to get in the England squad ahead of the World Cup, he needs to find a move away because Pep has been quite clear that he just doesn’t feel that Jack has got the consistency to play Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, like he did at the end of the Treble season.

“So it’s an interesting one, I just don’t think there’s an obvious place for Grealish to go… Unless Grealish wants to accept a West Ham or an Everton and take a pay-cut and go for a year on loan, I think it’s going to be really, really difficult for him.”

Manchester City spent an eye-watering £100 million to bring the England international to the Etihad Stadium from Aston Villa back in 2021, and while he was instrumental in their Treble-winning season run-in, his form and fitness faltered last term in particular.

The 2025/26 campaign may therefore represent a holding pattern for both parties. If Grealish can impress in training and carve out a role in Pep Guardiola’s rotation, the season could still offer redemption.

But equally, his involvement may simply be a formality until a more viable transfer solution presents itself, whether in the next January market or the summer transfer window of 2026. Ultimately, with no ideal exit route currently visible, Grealish’s reintegration into first-team training now looks like a pragmatic step rather than a permanent resolution.