What interested clubs need to consider before attempting to sign Grealish

Though he's yet to leave Manchester City, there's some certainty to Jack Grealish wearing the colours of another club come the start of the 2025/26 season.

The 29-year-old England international has fallen so far out of favour under Pep Guardiola that he wasn't even selected to go to the Club World Cup, a competition that City exited earlier than anticipated after a stunning loss against Saudi Pro League giants, Al Hilal.

One goal and two assists in 2024/25

Though Grealish is certainly a player you'd pay to watch, one can perfectly understand the Catalans' position.

In the entirety of the 2024/25 campaign, the attacking midfielder managed a paltry one goal and two assists in 21 appearances.

Even if one takes into account that he only started in eight of those games - and his total minutes in all competitions (805) added up to less than a total of nine matches - that's still well below the standards that Guardiola has set for the Cityzens.

Jack Grealish Radar Graph Comparison (Premier League only) 2022/23 and 2024/25Opta by Stats Perform

The squad themselves were well below par when one puts into context what has gone before, of course, so Grealish wasn't alone in underperforming; however, it's not a stretch to say that Grealish really didn't perform at all.

A shot accuracy of just 6.7% evidenced that even if he got to beat his man, which was something else that didn't happen often enough in 2024/25, there was little chance of him finding the net.

Perhaps that's why the stats would indicate that he preferred to play in a teammate, given his 91% pass accuracy in the Premier League.

Original and down-to-earth

The swashbuckling nature with which Grealish plays the game is hugely enjoyable to watch from a supporter's perspective. Fans identify with his originality and down-to-earth demeanour in an age where everyone in the public eye looks to have been media-trained.

That might win the hearts and minds, but it doesn't win football matches.

Jack Grealish Premier League Touch Map 2024/25Opta by Stats Perform

When you're attempting just nine tackles across an entire season and winning only five of them, it's clear that you're not giving your best.

It's difficult to get any rhythm when you're in and out of a team, it's true, though a player must affect the game when given the chance, and that's where Grealish tailed off badly in 2024/25.

Jack Grealish Premier League Attacking Carries 2024/25Opta by Stats Perform

In City's treble-winning season, for example, Grealish was much more able in both his goalscoring and assist output as well as his general contribution.

Five goals and seven assists remain his best to date for the club (2022/23), whilst the 989 passes attempted are the most by a long way that he's made in a campaign for City.

274 one-on-one duels attempted compared to just 19 last season is another incredible indicator of just how much of a bystander Grealish had become in some games, whilst 25 tackles attempted is almost three times as many as last season. 16 won is more than three times what he managed in 2024/25.

Is the treble win the reason behind Grealish's poor form?

The narrative that players have somehow 'completed football' if they manage to win the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League is a non-argument, quite frankly, and only shows a lack of professionalism if such an achievement leads to a player taking their foot off the accelerator - as Grealish appears to have done.

So what's next? 

With the World Cup just a year away, Grealish might consider that a decent season in 2025/26 will, at the very least, afford him the opportunity to be in the conversation when Thomas Tuchel names his final squad.

The German has shown that he knows his own mind by bringing players back into the international fold who many had thought they'd seen the last of in an England shirt.

Will anyone really want to risk buying a player who just a few seasons ago cost £100m, but probably isn't worth much more than a fifth of that now though?

If he can do well at a new club - and reports suggest that Italian giants Napoli are getting close to being his new employers - then there's every reason to think that aside from domestic success, he could top everything off with that England recall.

Time to step it up again

However, for that to even be a thought in Tuchel's mind, Grealish will have to get back to the kind of form he showed in 2022/23 or else he can forget it.

At 29 years of age, arguably the player still has a few seasons left at the top level of the game if he's able to get his head down and work.

If he's content to see out the remainder of his career in relative obscurity because he just doesn't have the motivation any longer, that would be the saddest of endings to a reasonably decent career.