28 February 2024 , 17:00
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Jack Grealish has been left sweating on his England place for the Euros after his latest injury setback.
Grealish limped out of Manchester City ’s FA Cup win at Luton on Tuesday night with a suspected recurrence of his groin injury. It has been a stop-start season for Grealish who has started just seven Premier League games this season and a total of 20 of City’s 41 games in all competitions.
Grealish has struggled for form and fitness while competition has never been higher in the wide and attacking areas for England. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has a wealth of options and Grealish knows that he must get back to full fitness to stand a chance of starting in Germany this summer while the even bigger fear would be missing out on the squad.
Grealish, 28, was a key part of England’s last World Cup campaign but has undoubtedly slipped down the pecking order and the fact he started the last game in North Macedonia in November only suggests he is no longer in the must-picks. City boss Pep Guardiola admitted that Grealish has not been performing to previous levels and that has affected his form and confidence.
City are now hoping the injury will not be too bad but he limped off and Guardiola said he was “devastated” afterwards. England have strength in depth with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden emerging as the leading candidates to start in the Euros.
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They also have Marcus Rashford, Jarrod Bowen and James Maddison competing for places with Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon also pushing hard. Southgate names his squad on March 20 for the forthcoming friendlies with Brazil and Belgium and they will be the last get-together before the Euros squad is named.
Guardiola had made it clear prior to Grealish's latest injury that the England star's performances had to improve before he could earn back his place in City's starting lineup.
"He is the same player, he has the same manager, and the way we play has not changed," said Guardiola. "It's just the way he has performed. That's the difference."
"I said from day one, we need him," Guardiola added. "He has a special quality for our team. But it depends on him. Hopefully he can do a good last three months."
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