Grealish offered Man City lifeline by Maresca after Guardiola snub

Enzo Maresca has refused to shut the door on Jack Grealish remaining at Manchester City - despite expectations that the attacker would be offloaded this summer.

Grealish fell out of favour at City under Maresca's predecessor, Pep Guardiola, and subsequently joined on Everton on loan. His year-long spell at Everton was curtailed by a stress fracture in his foot, leaving the 30-year-old in a difficult position heading into the off-season.

City are about to embark on a new era under Maresca after Guardiola's decision to step away from the club at the end of last season.

And the Italian stopped short of completely writing off Grealish making a go of it at the club he joined for £100million back in 2021.

"At the moment, he's here. He's a Man City player," Maresca said on Friday when he was asked about Grealish, who he worked with during his spell as Guardiola's assistant.

"I always said the same. In any club I join, I like to know if there are players that belong to the club. It's my duty to try to coach them. Jack is here. I have a good relation with Jack since I left. Also, we keep in touch, and the reason why is because he has a big heart and he's a very good guy. So this is the reason why. And then we see what happens."

While Grealish is now officially back on City's books, he remained at Everton's Finch Farm training base after suffering the injury.

Everton are understood to be keen on bringing Grealish back to Merseyside once he is fully fit. Grealish notched two goals and six assists for the Toffees before injuring himself against his old club, Aston Villa.

Despite being frozen out by Guardiola, City's old kingpin hinted that Grealish could still have a future at the club last October. Speaking before City played Everton, Guardiola said: "I think he has a contract for one more year with us. The important thing is he is back. He is a massive influence in the Everton games. After what's happened, maybe Manchester City want him back, but I don't know.

"Many things are still going to happen. We'll see. The important thing is he is playing again, a lot of minutes. This is the standard. I'm happy, really, honestly, that he's back in, trying his best."