Pep Guardiola admits Jack Grealish is injury doubt for Man City’s Premier League opener against Chelsea with ‘discomfort’
- Grealish was left out of Community Shield win over Man United as a precaution
- That could extend to the Chelsea match in fear of aggravating a minor problem
Pep Guardiola has admitted that Jack Grealish is an injury doubt for Manchester City’s opening game of their fourth straight Premier League title defence.
Grealish took a knock in training ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield penalty shootout win over Manchester United and was left out as a precaution.
But that could extend to Sunday when City go to Stamford Bridge to face Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea for fear of aggravating a minor problem.
‘Discomfort for two days but especially on Friday, his feeling wasn’t good,’ Guardiola said. ‘I don’t think it’s a big issue but we didn’t want to take a risk. It’s a blow, he had rhythm and was aggressive.
‘Maybe against Chelsea he will be ready or I’m pretty sure against Ipswich Town. If he’d got injured now it could be three weeks or a month out.’
Jeremy Doku and new £33million signing Savinho will vie for the left wing berth in Grealish’s place. Savinho impressed off the bench at Wembley on debut.
Guardiola added: ‘Savinho will understand us perfectly. I know many, many actions for Girona last season, going to the byline, cross to the near post or the far post, and the strikers scored a lot of goals. He’s so fast in transition.’
