Enzo Maresca has said that any player at Manchester City can work to earn minutes on the pitch after Jack Grealish made a surprise return to the team. The 30-year-old has started just one Premier League game for the club since December 2024 but came on for the second half of their Community Shield defeat to Arsenal.
Grealish's Return and Loan Spell
City agreed for Grealish to go on loan last season to Everton, where he briefly impressed but also suffered a serious injury that brought a premature end to his campaign. He was not included in City's pre-season tour to Asia as he worked individually instead in Mallorca, but has trained with the squad for the last week and got 45 minutes against Arsenal.
Maresca's Verdict and Transfer Uncertainty
Grealish is still expected to leave the club, either permanently or on loan, before the transfer window shuts, but Maresca was happy with his performance in Cardiff. "Jack was inside when we were 2-0 down so the game already became complicated after that, but overall I think Jack was good," he said. "The ones that are still here and want to work every day and if they deserve they're going to get minutes. At the moment the transfer window is open and we will see what happens."
Concerns Over Early Goals
It was difficult for Grealish and City when the second half started, and by the time Martin Odegaard had added a third after just a few minutes it became an impossible task. Conceding in the first minute had put the Blues on the back foot from the off and Maresca admitted there were concerns with the performance.
"For sure the first two goals we concede I don't like," he said. "The first one because it's after 25 seconds and after the second one there was no pressure on the ball. I don't know if it was physical condition - we had many players at the World Cup - but for sure the first two goals I don't like."
"And then in terms of things that I like, I think after the first goal we concede the reaction was very good. At this level it's so similar, when you are able to react in the way we did it's good but after the second goal it was more complicated."
"In general I'm always concerned, even when we win games so imagine how that we didn't win the game. It's just the beginning, we have many things that we need to do better, I think the reaction was good after conceding the first goal and now try to reset and analyse the game and think from Tuesday about the next game."
