Noel Sliney, BBC Sport:
It has been a chastening two years for Jack Grealish, since he loved probably the most profitable season of his profession.
He had performed an integral position in Manchester Metropolis’s historic Treble in 2022-23, beginning the FA Cup last and each certainly one of their seven knockout ties because the membership gained the Champions League for the primary time.
Solely six outfield Metropolis gamers spent extra time on the pitch than Grealish within the Premier League too.
A hamstring harm halted his momentum early in 2023-24, which the England playmaker ended with extra yellow playing cards (seven) than mixed objectives and assists (six) throughout all competitions.
He featured in simply 40% of the overall minutes performed by Metropolis regardless of being within the squad for 82% of them.
His involvement dropped to 30% final time period as Grealish’s profession plummeted to its nadir. Three of his six begins after Christmas got here in opposition to lower-league opposition within the FA Cup, whereas 16 begins in whole is his fewest in a marketing campaign since he was 20 years outdated.
Unsurprisingly, it has additionally been his least productive season when it comes to possibilities created and dribbling success since returning to the Premier League in 2019.
Metropolis’s crew construction has seldom afforded Grealish the license to tackle and glide previous opponents as he did with such insouciance because the talismanic captain at boyhood membership Aston Villa.
The query now could be whether or not the affable 29-year-old can reverse the downward trajectory of his profession – and who will give him the chance to take action.
