It wasn’t the best of seasons for Jack Grealish. Manchester City’s attacking midfield start endured a rough term last campaign which ended with his exclusion from the England squad for the 2024 Euros. Speculation has grown in the weeks following his omission from the Three Lions side in relation to his continued stay in Manchester, with rumours that City may decide to cash in on the former Aston Villa man.
Grealish, however, seems determined to put that disappointment behind him as he looks to get his career back on track at the Etihad Stadium. He has featured in both of City’s pre-season tour of America and, while both of those matches have ended in defeat. Grealish recognises that he now has an opportunity to reinvent himself and become a major player in City’s hunt for glory.
And the midfielder says he is using his England omission as a his source of motivation as he looks towards the new season.
“I will be honest, I would say football wise [being left out of England’s Euro 2024 squad] it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my career,” Grealish explained.
“I have had a lot of ups and downs in my career. It was difficult but I will use this as motivation going into this new season and hopefully I can prove a few people wrong. I have to use that now as motivation going into this season and try and have the same mentality I had two years ago in my first season at City.
“I didn’t perform as well as I could have, but in the second I played in a lot of the games and that was down to the first season I had, I wanted to come back stronger. I want to do that again. So I am happy now to be back and to get a full pre-season under my belt.
“As you can see there aren’t too many of the first-team guys here so I want to be here and get as fit as possible ahead of the new season.”
City face Barcelona on Wednesday but still don’t have their full complement of stars back following the Euros and Copa America tournaments, with Pep Guardiola insisting on allowing his players to return when they want to.
The Blues will be hoping to get their first win of pre-season against former City star Ilkay Gundogan’s Barca, and Grealish will be looking to play a starring role as he aims to secure his place in the starting line-up for next season.
