Major update on Jack Grealish’s future as Enzo Maresca breaks silence on £100m England star frozen out under Guardiola

IT was three years ago when Jack Grealish and Enzo Maresca were last together at Manchester City. They were reunited at the Etihad Campus this week — but it looks highly unlikely it will last more than a few weeks. Jack Grealish’s future at Manchester City is uncertain Credit: AFP Man City manager Enzo Maresca remains coy on his plans for Grealish Credit: AP:Associated Press Back in summer 2023 — when the Italian left his role as Pep Guardiola’s assistant to take charge of Leicester — Grealish, 30, looked to have the world at his feet. He had just played a starring role in City’s historic Treble and was finally justifying his record-breaking £100million price-tag. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Yet, since then he has started only 17 Premier League games for the club and spent last season on loan at Everton. Maresca, 46, revealed at his first press conference as the new boss on Friday the pair have stayed in regular contact. Like most people, the Italian clearly has a soft spot for Grealish. Yet, when asked where it has all gone wrong for the former Aston Villa captain, Maresca said: “When you don’t work day by day with the players, it’s difficult to judge. I don’t know what he has done. It’s complicated.” Grealish is still working on an individual programme as he battles back from the foot injury he suffered with the Toffees in January. So he was unable to join in the sessions with the new boss at the City Football Academy but posted pictures on social media. He wrote: “Nice to see everyone. I’m nearly there — hopefully not long now til I’m back training.” Most read in Football CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS No doubt it would have been nice to see Maresca, too. Although maybe he was hoping for a bit more encouragement from the new manager. Instead the Italian said: “In any club I join, it’s my duty to coach the players at the club and Jack is here at the moment. I have a good relationship with him and since I left we’ve been keeping in touch. “He has a big heart and is a very good guy but we’ll see what happens.” It was hardly a ringing endorsement from an incoming manager — and the Three Lions favourite could be forgiven for seeing the writing on the wall. So in a week when he was overtaken as City’s record transfer by another England man in £116m Elliot Anderson, Grealish finds himself at a crossroads. Grealish was loved by both fans and staff during his loan spell down the M62 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium after he made such an encouraging start. His season was ended by injury but he spent the final few months of the campaign working on his rehab on Merseyside — rather than returning to his parent club. But, unsurprisingly given the way it all ended, the Toffees did not take up the £50m option to buy him permanently this summer. Everton have not ruled out taking him back but another loan makes no sense for either him or City as he has just one year left on his contract. David Moyes will want to see sure signs he is fully recovered before committing some of his transfer budget to signing a player who turns 31 in September. Everton had expressed interest in Grealish but his injury gives them second thoughts Credit: 2026 PA Media His good pal and former Villa team-mate Gabby Agbonlahor believes Grealish’s days at City are over — and predicts he could even move abroad. He said: “It will be interesting to see what happens with Jack, if he’s given a chance by Maresca. He would have been part of that City squad when Maresca was there as assistant. “But will the manager think, ‘No’, and will Jack think, ‘Do you know what? Maybe I want to move on’?I don’t see him staying. Don’t rule out him going back to Everton. “David Moyes loved him but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him play somewhere else in Europe.” First, Grealish needs to get himself fit and Maresca must decide whether to give him one last chance at City, five years after he made his record-breaking move. But time is running out for the Midlander — and plenty of people at the Etihad will feel he has had enough last chances. Comment now