Jack Grealish insists Gareth Southgate was wrong after Euro 2024 ‘heartbreak’
Jack Grealish was dropped from England’s Euro 2024 squad by Gareth Southgate and the Manchester City star has opened up about his ‘heartbreaking’ omission ahead of the new season
Jack Grealish was axed from England’s Euro 2024 squad by Gareth Southgate(Getty Images)
Jack Grealish says being left out of England’s Euro 2024 squad was the “most difficult” moment of his career.
The Manchester City star was one of seven players axed on the eve of the tournament by Gareth Southgate, with James Maddison, Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwiate, Curtis Jones, Jarell Quansah and James Trafford also dropped.
Southgate said at the time that Grealish’s omission was down to a lack of form for City last season, explaining: “The fact is we have players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons.”
And Grealish has now opened up about missing the tournament, which saw England go on to lose the final 2-1 to Spain thanks to goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal. “I’ll be honest it was probably football-wise the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my career,” Grealish admitted.
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“I was absolutely heartbroken and then obviously when you’re on your holidays, every time you turn on the phone or turn on the TV or whatever you just see it so it was hard to not to see it. It was the hardest moment for me as a footballer, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career so it was difficult.
“I did watch it but yeah obviously it’s difficult to watch because for me personally I was so desperate to be there and it was obviously very difficult. But for myself now, moving forward, I have to just try to use that as motivation going into this season.
“Myself, I felt like I should have been in the squad. I’m sure every person that didn’t get picked in the squad, whether that’s myself or any of the other players, would have thought the same.”
