It’s always nice to see players bounce back from adversity. Speaking ahead of England’s 3-0 victory over Wales on Thursday night, Manchester City’s John Stones said he considered retiring at the end of last season amid continued injury problems.
However, Stones, 30, has already started five games in all competitions for the Citizens this season, and despite struggling with illness, he survived and achieved victory at Wembley.
But Stones is not the only man of City’s persuasion as he aims for a renaissance at the more mature end of his career, with Jack Grealish starting to look like a £100m player again.
But he’s just trying again in an Everton shirt on Merseyside.
Why Man City loaned Jack Grealish
Josep Guardiola made a big splash by signing Grealish from Aston Villa for a British record transfer fee of £100m. The year was 2021. The Three Lions star was sleek, stylish and everything else, but somehow got lost in Man City’s mechanics during his four years at the Etihad.
Still, the 30-year-old is a citizen and was loaned to Everton this summer. However, Grealish has returned to his best form so far this season and was named Premier League Player of the Month in August with four assists, scoring the latest winning goal at the Hill Dickinson Stadium to end Crystal Palace’s 19-match unbeaten run.
Grealish is perhaps at his best when he is the team’s main character and talisman. Something has gone wrong under Pep, who has struggled at the last minute in the last two seasons in the Premier League.
Even if the Sky Blues were to succeed in selling the £300,000-a-week man permanently next summer, they would not be able to recoup anywhere near what they paid.
Grealish made 157 appearances for Man City, scoring 17 times and providing 23 assists for his team-mates.
He was never a prolific player per se, but he certainly left a lot to be desired and Guardiola knew that, starting just 17 times in the Premier League over his final two terms. During this period, he contributed 6 goals.
But Grealish is not the only player who could be released this summer, and Pep and his team may be feeling something akin to regret as they look back on the opportunity to sell Bernardo Silva for a huge sum.
Pep should have sold Bernardo Silva
Silva, 31, was one of the defining superstars of Guardiola’s era at Manchester City. He has won the Premier League six times and his 419 appearances for the club are ninth on the club’s all-time list.
But he’s starting to feel depressed. Despite the manager appointing him captain this summer, Silva has lost some of the magic that has often been seen throughout his career, with Fabrizio Romano saying earlier this week that the veteran “has a chance to leave Man City” for 2026.
Silva’s career at Manchester City has been long and storied, but Guardiola’s side continue to evolve and rumors of the Iberian talent’s possible departure have regularly surfaced in recent years.
Last season was a difficult one for everyone at the club, but Silva felt the upheaval and turmoil more than anyone. His results halved, and he was substituted seven times in the second half of the top league.
Man City’s Bernardo Silva | ||
|---|---|---|
season | Appearance | Goal (assist) |
17/18 | 53 | 9(10) |
18/19 | 51 | 13(13) |
19/20 | 52 | 8(10) |
20/21 | 45 | 5(9) |
21/22 | 50 | 13 (7) |
22/23 | 55 | 7 (7) |
23/24 | 49 | 11(11) |
24/25 | 52 | 6(5) |
25/26 | 9 | 0 (1) |
Dates via Transfermarkt | ||
Now in a changed role, Silva is no longer producing goals and assists with the same regularity, and Sofascore has averaged just one chance in a Premier League game this season, losing 70% of his duels so far.
He has captained Man City six times in all competitions this season and is one of the most agile and intelligent players in the Premier League, with Guardiola even calling him “one of the best” he has ever seen.
However, the 31-year-old feels like he is in the autumn of his career in English football, and is no longer as indispensable as he once was.
Although he remains a tenacious, multi-layered attacking midfielder who ranks in the top 1% across Europe for pass success rate, top 10% for tackles and top 7% for carries per 90%, the Portugal international could certainly have been sold for a considerable amount to City in the past. EUR100 million (86 million pounds).
Silva is only in the top 54% for goals and assists, but this is not enough for a City team looking for a different attacking surface and does not ease the burden on Erling Haaland.
Saudi suitors came forward last year and were ready to bid. It was wasted, but with the Portuguese star hinting that next season could be his last as he watches the culmination of his contract in Manchester, could there be a bit of regret that a big-money sale can’t be planned and City instead have to bid farewell to one of their best players on a free transfer?
There are certainly reports that Silva could leave on a free transfer in the summer, with Benfica and AC Milan being considered as the frontrunners. This is a reality that Manchester City must accept. Perhaps they should have sold him last season or the year before, but given they signed him for £43.5m in 2017, one wonders if City might have gotten their money’s worth.
The same logic could be applied to Grealish when it comes to regrets about not selling sooner to speed up the rebuild. Grealish had a two-year spell at Man City before reviving his career by earning a move to Everton. If City had signed either of them before they faltered and declined, they could have made huge numbers.
