Jack Grealish told he made international error by choosing England over Ireland as out-of-favour Man City star is handed transfer advice

Birmingham native Grealish, who started out on the books of Aston Villa, represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level from U17 to U21. In September 2015, the decision was taken to pledge allegiance to the Three Lions.

Grealish made his senior England bow in 2020 and has reached 39 caps, scoring four goals along the way. The 29-year-old has been informed those numbers would be considerably higher had he not made a controversial switch between green and white.

Ex-Ireland and Villa star Andy Townsend has told Boylesports, who offer the latest Premier League odds: “Jack Grealish would have double the international caps if he picked Ireland over England. I've never agreed with the FIFA stance in the way that you can play friendly matches for one country, but because you haven't appeared in a tournament qualifier or tournament game you could then decide you want to go and play for someone else.

“That's not how I believe it should be. No one is forcing anyone to play international football. They're all grown men capable of understanding and making decisions for the here and now that are going to impact you long-term. I don't think you should be allowed to change. That's just an opinion. The rules are what they are.

“Jack would definitely have had a ton more caps playing for Ireland and he and Declan Rice would have absolutely been pivotal at the forefront of anything that's happened with Ireland. The two players would argue that the Irish team over the last few years has been really poor and it has. But maybe with their inclusion, it would have been a lot healthier.”

Grealish was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s first squad as England manager, with struggles for regular game time and end product at Premier League champions Manchester City seeing questions asked of what the short and long-term future holds.

Townsend added: “I think going abroad would suit Jack Grealish. He's at an age now and has a level of experience. He's a dad and so he's got a family that he'll want to look after and enjoy the last chapter, this last period of his career and it will go pretty quickly. I don't think he should be averse to going abroad at all. I think that would make a lot of sense, there are a lot of good clubs out there.

“The only issue for Jack is obviously salary. I would imagine it's still a significant amount of money that he potentially would be walking away from. But at some point as a player, you've got to decide what you want to do. If you're prepared to give that up in order to play week in, week out or play more often than not and kind of really feel the love and feel like you're absolutely part of what's going on, then you've got to be prepared to walk away from the money and then go and play.

“He's still got two years left on his contract so there's still going to be a healthy fee involved with Jack Grealish. I don't think Pep would want him to go. I don't think he would be ushering him out.

“I think there are others at the front of that queue this summer that are going to be leaving at City. But from Jack's point of view, you've got to play. He's seen now that his England place is going to be under threat. He's not going to play. He's not going to get in the squads if he's not playing enough football and there's a big World Cup next summer. This is a big time for him and I don't think he can afford to delay.”

Grealish is under contract at City through to the summer of 2027, but has started just seven Premier League games this season and registered one goal. He has some big decisions to make at the end of the season as Guardiola draws up rebuilding plans at the Etihad Stadium.