Is 'maverick' Jack Grealish happy at Man City? England outcast urged to leave Etihad Stadium after becoming too 'disciplined' under Pep Guardiola

Grealish has had a rollercoaster career at Manchester City after joining Pep Guardiola's side from Aston Villa in the summer of 2021 for a then-British record £100m. He has won three Premier League titles and played a key role in their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023.

However, the winger has not shown the kind of output that he did at Villa due to Guardiola's focus on making his team play at a certain standard and in a particular fashion. England icon Barnes has now claimed that Grealish needs to move on from City as he has become too 'disciplined', making him less effective as he is a 'maverick' who needs freedom to express himself.

Speaking to PokerScout, Barnes said of Grealish: "He's won everything, so I don't know how harmful it is, in terms of being a regular player every single week. Jack is a bit of a maverick, so when he's at Aston Villa he did whatever he wanted, played wherever he wanted, he went and dribbled around the goalkeeper, he could do anything.

"At Man City, he was more of a disciplined player. And as much as he did well, he played on the wing when he got the ball, but he's held his position. He didn't wander everywhere to get the ball and maybe that's who Jack is. Maybe he has to be at a club whereby he's the number one person who's given a free role to do what he wants.

"He's not going to get that at Man City. So as much as he won everything at Man City, he was probably more influential at Villa than he was at Man City. As to whether he's happy, being a bit part player at Man City, I’m not sure."

The 29-year-old has not had a lot of playing time with City this season despite their struggles and he has been tipped to part ways with the club, particularly after being left out of Thomas Tuchel's first England squad.