Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has ripped into Jack Grealish and unfavorably compared him to fellow winger and new team-mate Savinho.<\/p>\n
Grealish has watched from the sidelines, upon his return from injury,\u00a0 as City winger Savinho has started ahead of him in the past two games. Following the Citizens\u20194-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Saturday, which saw Savinho lay on three assists, manager Guardiola has actually openly conceded that the summer signing is in “better shape and everything” than Grealish, suggesting even that the England international may not be presently giving his “best”.<\/p>\n
Guardiola said, via The Telegraph:<\/p>\n
\u201cI fought a lot for him [Grealish], fought a lot to be here \u2013 to say \u2018come on, do it again, do it again\u2019. I saw him, I saw your level and I want that, every single training session and every single game. If not, Savinho. Does anyone think Savinho doesn\u2019t deserve to play? No. He deserves [it]. That\u2019s why I play him because he produces. As much as he looks at himself, he will see the competition and he has to compete, himself. Savinho is in better shape and everything than Jack and that\u2019s why I played Savinho. I want the Jack that won the treble? Yeah. I want it. But I try to be honest with myself for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened with Savinho\u2019s delivery in the box? It\u2019s higher than the other wingers in that position. And they have to fight. You have to prove \u2018OK, I\u2019m going to fight with Savinho, to deserve to play in that position\u2019. And every single day, and every single week and every single month. Two weeks ago, Jack was injured and he needs rhythm and to play but players need training. I don\u2019t have any doubt about the quality of Jack or any of these players. But they have to, right now, today at 3pm, be at your best. It\u2019s not about what they have done or will do, it\u2019s about 3pm. The one hour 30 minutes, or one hour, 45 minutes, we\u2019re going to play, the responsibility belongs to the players, not to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grealish swapped Aston Villa for City in 2021 in a \u00a3100 million ($124m) club-record deal. But in 144 appearances he has scored just 14 goals and bagged 20 assists. Currently struggling for game time, he has been told to make an Etihad transfer exit and is apparently not the player he once was at Villa. And with Savinho firing on all cylinders at the moment, the 29-year-old could become more of a fringe player as the season progresses.<\/p>\n
Cit’s FA Cup campaign begins on Saturday at home to League Two side Salford City. Grealish will be hoping to feature in that third round cup clash, but it remains to be seen if Guardiola grants him the chance to try and win his place back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"