Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Jack Grealish could return for the Premier League opener against Chelsea this weekend.
Despite being pictured in training a couple of days before the Community Shield clash against rivals Manchester United, he was not named in the squad for the penalty shootout win at Wembley. Asked for an update on Grealish’s fitness, Guardiola said:
“We didn’t want to take a risk (against Manchester United), because maybe against Chelsea he will be ready, or I’m pretty sure against Ipswich Town he will be ready. Otherwise, if he’s injured now, three weeks or a month he’s out of the position.”
City have not disclosed the nature of the injury but it looks like Grealish will be available for Sunday’s fixture, all being well.
Estimated Return Date – Sunday 18th August v Chelsea
Rodri went off at half time during the European Championship final against England last month and his fitness heading into the new season remains an open question.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the United game last week, Guardiola confirmed that the Spanish international would return to training (along with the club’s England contingent) at the start of this week.
Nothing more has been said about Rodri’s fitness other than that, so the assumption is that he won’t be any further behind in his recovery than the likes of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden.
It’s likely that some of them will be on the bench against Chelsea this weekend, but their lack of training over the last few weeks means the following fixture versus Ipswich (the first home game of the new season) is the earliest we will see Rodri and the others in action.
Estimated Return Date – Saturday 24th August v Ipswich Town
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here
