Pep Guardiola Requires Jack Grealish Will Leave Manchester City: He Must Play

Jack Grealish is open to the opportunity to leave Manchester City this summer (Instagram/@mancity).

JAKARTA - Pep Guardiola has opened the door for Jack Grealish to return to Manchester City.

However, the Spaniard also suggested an ideal solution for the England midfielder, namely to find a new club and feel joy again after two years of absence.

Grealish has been expelled from Manchester City's squad for the 2025 Club World Cup and has been granted permission to speak with other clubs about his move from the Etihad Stadium this summer.

Guardiola said the decision came after talks between Grealish and the club. Although he did not say Grealish's career at Manchester City was over, the coach hinted that he needed to find a new club and rediscover his love for football.

"He has spoken to the club and they decided that the best is (to stay)."

"Jack is an amazing player. The only reason why he didn't play last season was of course because of my decision."

"We decided that he had to play. The club was honest, he was honest. We decided the best was to stay (on the back) and have a place that made him feel he could return to being a player like when he won treble or throughout his career at Aston Villa."

"The fact is that in the last two seasons he hasn't played much. He has to come back to play so he doesn't feel nervous and can play every three days, showing his quality again," said Guardiola.

Although throwing signs opening the exit door for Grealish--whose contract is still two years remaining--Guardiola declined to speculate on the forward's future this summer.

"I don't know. Now we decide that he didn't come here (2025 Club World Cup)."

"What happened in the end I don't know. He is a player for Manchester City and he will come back," said Guardiola.

Meanwhile, Manchester City has brought four new players to the United States--Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, and Marcus Bettinelli--and a new team of coaches.

The team includes former assistant Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Pep Lijnders.

Guardiola revealed that he asked for permission from Klopp before approaching Lijnders and said he hoped to absorb knowledge from the Dutch coach after his successful days at Anfield.

"As usual, a long conversation. At certain times, I said that I was thinking about Pep."

"He gave his opinion, of course, he is his right-hand man (Jurgen Klopp), one of Liverpool's most successful periods in recent years. After that, I took time to decide."

"I asked Jurgen for permission, of course, because I don't want to interfere too much. I told him it would be a problem, you know, to talk to him. He said absolutely no."

"This is a problem going back and forth. So, his knowledge, I absorb his knowledge. Every day since we met together, we talked a lot about tactics, about football, about training sessions, and a lot of things, he really inspired me."

"I'm very happy about it, and, yes, we'll see what happens in the future," said Pep Guardiola.

Apart from that, Manchester City will start their journey at the 2025 Club World Cup against Wydad AC in Group G on June 18, 2025, at 23.00 WIB.