Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been tipped to keep faith with under-fire star Jack Grealish for the foreseeable future by Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
The 27-year-old has faced criticism from some journalists and pundits alike since completing his British-record £100 million move from boyhood club Aston Villa last summer.
What is the latest news involving Grealish?
Grealish penned a six-year contract worth £250,000-per-week upon his arrival at City, helping his new side claim the Premier League title during his maiden campaign at the club.
However, the England international has arguably been unable to find his best form on a consistent basis for the Cityzens, leading to some negative remarks in the media.
This week saw Grealish hit back at Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness, though, with the player stating that he doesn’t know ‘what his problem is’ and that he ‘always says stuff’ about him.
Souness his back on talkSPORT by telling Grealish not to be so ‘precious’ before insisting that he doesn’t have a ‘vendetta’ against the creative talent.
Yet 90min have recently reported that the 5 foot 9 ace has suuposedly told those close to him that he does ‘not expect to remain at the club beyond next summer’ and has already asked his agent to search for potential suitors.
What has Sheth said about Grealish?
When asked if he believes Grealish has a long-term future at City, Sheth informed GiveMeSport that he thinks so before disclosing that he can’t envisage Guardiola discarding such an expensive player so soon.
He said: “I think so. In current football, there just seems to be a lot of short-termism doesn't there. If someone has a bad game, well, he's not going to be lasting very long.
“If you have a good game, you could be here for 10 years or so. So, for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to commit £100 million on a player, I just cannot imagine why they would say, ‘actually, no, he's not for us. He's not fitted in’.”
How has Grealish been playing?
Grealish registered six goals and four assists in 39 appearances across all competitions throughout 2021/22 and was often subject to Guardiola’s rotation policy.
A minor injury has disrupted the technically gifted star’s season this time around, but he scored the opening goal in a comfortable victory over Wolves last time out and has still put up some impressive underlying numbers.
As per FBref, Grealish has ranked in the 99th percentile for progressive carries, 98th for touches in the attacking penalty area, 94th for shot-creating actions, 92nd for expected assists and 90th for progressive passes received amongst his positional peers over the last year.
Providing more goals and assists will surely be the next step for Grealish and will get the critics off his back, but his overall performance levels are perhaps not as low as many believe.