Update: Jack Grealish is no longer a £100m player – but that can help Man City News

Manchester City star Jack Grealish has struggled to live up to expectations as a £100m signing at the Etihad

As Pep Guardiola opted to do without wingers against Crystal Palace, it was notable that he picked James McAtee over Jack Grealish. The two are not identical players, yet Grealish has been used in the middle this season and has looked decent there.

If the selection felt like a warning for Savinho and Jeremy Doku, it appeared to be more confirmation that Grealish just isn’t going to get the chance to impress again at the Etihad. It is just two starts in the last ten games for the former Villa man and five in the last 20, despite him seeming to do well in the majority of his appearances.

Grealish divides opinion like few others in the City team – not least because he is the most expensive and one of the most high-profile – and even his biggest allies do not see a bright future for him.

“With De Bruyne leaving, I would love to see Guardiola build the team around Jack Grealish playing in a central role and dominating games, but it looks like the writing is on the wall for him to go as well,” said former City goalkeeper Shay Given after the Manchester derby.

“For whatever reason, it appears they are not getting on so it does not look good for Jack. He comes in, plays a game or two and then is back out again, no matter how well he does.”

“I’m not just a fan of his, I am his ex-team-mate and friend. It’s frustrating to see him being treated this way, because I know he has got so much more to offer the team. He just doesn’t get the opportunities, and that is the manager’s decision.”

For Grealish’s critics, each non-selection is vindication of their view that the player has not justified his fee (admittedly a release clause). His contribution to the Treble will not be forgotten but it is ultimately one good season out of four since joining and he is being judged up against players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland who have cost half the price.

Grealish has not been able to do anything about his price tag, negotiated at Aston Villa to ensure his boyhood club got a big chunk of money if he left. If he moves on this summer, City will be unable to do anything about the fact that he will not generate anywhere near that as a transfer sum.

As difficult as it may look for the Blues to swallow a transfer fee that is comfortably less than half of what they paid, at the very least City do not need a high sum to turn a profit financially. With this summer marking their fifth year of six amortised payments of the £100m they paid back in 2021, Grealish’s value is looking more like £33m; Transfermarkt puts his price at close to £30m.

The outlier in this will be wages. Grealish is paid as a £100m superstar will be, but any club paying a transfer fee around a third of that will not want to be paying over those odds in wages, so if there is to be a deal to be done then there will have to be some movement from both sides on that.

The alternative is that Grealish defies expectations and stays at City, in which case the onus is on him to prove his worth and increase his transfer value. Either way, if the £100m man hasn’t lived up to expectations the Blues are reaching a point where the fee no longer matters.