Pep Guardiola reveals brutally honest reason for dropping Jack Grealish as fans fear England star ‘may want to leave’
PEP GUARDIOLA has revealed why he decided to drop Jack Grealish ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Chelsea.
The Spaniard opted to start summer signing Jeremy Doku over Grealish for the second successive weekend amid his scintillating form.
Doku scored once and provided four assists during City’s 6-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend.
And Guardiola believed his impressive performance warranted another start on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of the match at Stamford Bridge, the Man City boss said: “I wake up today and say Jeremy. I rely a lot on Jack (Grealish), Phil (Foden), Jeremy, Bernardo (Silva) on the outside.
“I don’t have any doubts about what they offer. Jeremy is special in the final third. We see how he behaves…”
Fans were quick to react to Guardiola’s statement, with one person writing: “Jeremy Doku has confined Jack Grealish to the bench. As he should. He’s much better IMO.”
Another added: “Doku sending Grealish to the stands.”
While a third said: “Doku benching Grealish now, I like that Pep values merit and form a lot.”
However, some supporters expressed concern that Grealish’s lack of game time could lead to him becoming frustrated and requesting a move away.
One commented: “Pep woke up and decided to start Doku ahead of Grealish. Grealish about to lose his starting position. Hope he doesn’t start complaining that he wants to leave for lack of game time.”
While another wrote: “Jack Grealish might as well go on loan somewhere or go back to Villa because Doku isn’t getting dropped.”
Doku joined Man City in a £55million transfer from Rennes in August.
He has since scored three goals and provided six assists in 13 appearances across all competitions.