Jack Grealish's unique talents are wasted at Man City - England winger must push for summer transfer to get career back on track

Grealish's previous start for City had come in early in January, in a 5-0 FA Cup third-round victory over Huddersfield. He only saw 17 minutes of action across City's next five games in all competitions, with Guardiola opting to use Phil Foden and Doku in his preferred position.

After playing such a vital role in City's treble success last season, and leading their wild celebrations, Grealish has been cast aside. Leaving a £100 million ($126m) asset to depreciate on the bench week in, week out, isn't a good look, but Guardiola has insisted the playmaker's destiny is in his own hands.

“This season was not like last season,” the Spaniard said when quizzed on why Grealish's role has been reduced. “But he’s getting better. He’s doing the steps to get to his best level and now is competing with players at a high level. This is the only reason why. He has to demand himself to get back where he was, especially last season and all the time at Aston Villa. I’m looking forward to giving him minutes. It’s not a big, big problem, completely the opposite. We need him.”

The real problem for Grealish, though, is the fact he can't be the same player he was at Villa in Guardiola's City set-up. Grealish has had to rein in his creative urges to fit in as a cog in the well-oiled City machine; he is not encouraged to run at defenders and doesn't have an overlapping full-back to combine with.

Keeping the ball circulating is Grealish's main job for City, and although it's one he still thrives at, the rest of his considerable talents are going to waste.

Bad luck has certainly played a part in Grealish's apparent dip in performance this season. He also suffered what he described as the "worst injury I've ever had" when a clash with Sheffield United's Ollie McBurnie left him with a dead leg at the end of August.

That issue forced him to miss six games for club and country, and Grealish was also laid low with illness before City's huge home fixture against Liverpool on November 25. It was impossible for him to build up any rhythm in the first half of the campaign, and he also had to deal with a horrifying personal ordeal over the festive period.

Grealish got a rare 90 minutes under his belt as City strolled to a 3-1 win at Everton on December 27, only to learn afterwards that his house had been burgled. Thieves broke into his Cheshire mansion while he was playing at Goodison Park, and a number of his family members were in the house, including his fiancee Sasha Atwood, as they made off with watches and jewellery worth £1m - as per The Times.

The "traumatic experience" left Grealish and his family "devastated", and the City star also admitted "the best year of my life in football now doesn’t feel like something I can celebrate". Grealish showed incredible mental strength by lining up in City's home fixture against Sheffield United three days later, but understandably wasn't his usual self, and came off early in the second half.

Grealish's early-season fitness woes coincided with Doku's arrival at the Etihad from Rennes, and the Belgian wasted no time justifying City's £55m ($69m) investment in him. Doku is perhaps the fastest player in Europe over five metres, and has an imposing physical frame that allows him to push past defenders with ease.

He gives City a new dimension going forward, an X-factor that Grealish just can't match. The difference between the two players was most evident when Guardiola's side picked up a 2-1 home win over Brighton back in October.

Doku set up Julian Alvarez to break the deadlock for City after just seven minutes, leaving his marker for dead with a clever piece of dribbling before lifting his head to play a perfect pass. He continued to torment the Brighton backline thereafter, and had two good chances to score himself, with those in the home crowd perched on the edge of their seats every time he got on the ball.

Guardiola eventually brought Grealish on for Doku in the 75th minute, in a bid to regain control at a time when Brighton were starting to look the more dangerous side. While Doku had been trying to fly past his man at every opportunity, Grealish merely carried the ball at a more measured pace down the line, before cutting back inside and laying it off to a team-mate.

Doku is an explosive, unpredictable weapon for City, whereas Grealish is just one of many cool heads in the squad who tries to keep things ticking over with his technical quality to please Guardiola. There is no question which man elicits more excitement from fans, or who strikes more fear into the opposition when their name is read out over the PA system.

Grealish didn't make his full senior debut for England until the age of 24, having initially struggled to break into Gareth Southgate's squad while still on the books at Villa. Since earning his first cap in a 2020 Nations League clash with Denmark, though, Grealish has added another 34 to his collection, with 10 of those appearances coming at major tournaments.

The Three Lions don't have another player quite like Grealish, who is capable of creating chances out of nothing with his exceptional passing range and taking the pressure off at key junctures by drawing fouls. However, he has not been able to hold down a place in Southgate's preferred XI.

Grealish started just one game at Euro 2020 and all five of his outings at the Qatar World Cup came from the bench. Southgate acknowledges the qualities he can bring to the team, but doesn't appear to trust him in the most important matches.

Still, while he was playing a starring role for the best club side in Europe, it was impossible for Southgate to completely leave Grealish out. But he won't be guaranteed a place among the England supporting cast again at this summer's Euros if he's not playing regularly for City.

Grealish hasn't helped himself at international level recently, with two forgettable performances against Australia and North Macedonia turned in at the back end of 2023 that will have done nothing to adjust Southgate's opinion. In those games he played it safe, showing very little urgency or imagination on the ball.

He certainly didn't look like the same player who initially forced his way into the England fold with his ingenuity and boldness on the ball for Villa. City broke their transfer record to sign that version of Grealish, only for Guardiola to insist that he learn to play in a completely different way, and he appears to have lost his spark as a consequence.

Liverpool and Scotland legend Graeme Souness has been among those to suggest that Grealish is no longer progressing, as he told talkSPORT in December: "Grealish isn’t showing any intent to get by defenders. He is, for me, at a crossroads in his City career. Jack is 28. He needs to have a close look at himself. He should be in his pomp. Between 26 and 30 you have the knowledge, you’re physically and mentally stronger. He will not be getting any better. This should be his time. So, if I was him, I would be very concerned. I’d be sitting in front of the manager and asking him, ‘How do you see it for me?'"

City have Grealish tied to a contract through to 2027, and there have been no rumblings of a premature sale as yet. But does he really want to continue down the same path for another three years? Is the promise of continued success in terms of silverware all that matters to Grealish, or deep down does he imagine himself being the talisman he was at Villa again somewhere else?

Shortly after Grealish joined City in 2021, he revealed that he came "really close" to joining Manchester United the previous year. The former Villa star was one of several top targets to reportedly slip the net during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign at Old Trafford, and although it's safe to say he wouldn't have enjoyed the same level of success on the red side of Manchester, he would have had more room to express himself.

Red Devils supporters have instead watched on in frustration as the likes of Jadon Sancho and Antony have struggled to fill wide berths after big-money transfers, while Grealish has revamped his whole game to fit in at the Etihad. He might have solved a key problem for United, and taken a more natural step forward on an individual level to build on the foundations he'd laid so impressively at Villa.

That door is surely closed for good now given the fierce rivalry between the two clubs, but there would be no shortage of potential suitors for Grealish if he were to put himself on the market. AC Milan were strongly linked with move for the England playmaker mid-way through his second season at City, and he'd certainly stand out in Serie A.

Grealish needs to be in an environment where he is encouraged to bring out his individuality, especially if he wants to become a vital figure in the England squad. As long as Guardiola remains in charge at City, there is a ceiling that Grealish won't be allowed to bust through, which is a huge shame because players with the personality and skill he possesses don't come along very often.

City will hope to welcome Grealish back from injury sooner rather than later, as they continue their defence of the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup, and he'll certainly fight for his place once back to full-fitness. But it's time for Grealish to assess what is most important to him as he edges towards the latter stages of his career.

If it's picking up winners' medals then, of course, he's in the right place. But if Grealish still has any ambition to be one of the best players in English football, he will have to spread his wings.