‘Hopefully’ – Jack Grealish breaks silence on Man City injury blow with 16-word message

Jack Grealish’s late injury rules him out of the Community Shield match for Manchester City

Jack Grealish missed the Community Shield (Image: Jeff Dean/Getty Images)

After missing Saturday’s Community Shield match against Manchester United, Jack Grealish made a post on social media. Before the match at Wembley, the Manchester City forward had been heavily involved in pre-season, but he was ruled out late in the game due to an injury.

The Englishman was judged to be partially unfit, though MEN Sport is unsure of the exact severity at this time. Prior to the match, Grealish did not travel to London with his teammates.

During the summer, he had been a mainstay under Pep Guardiola, logging over 300 minutes of action and one goal during the American tour. Only Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis had more appearances. Grealish had a dismal third season in Manchester prior to his absence at Wembley. In his senior career, he has only started 10 league games—the fewest since 2015–16—and has played little over 1,000 minutes, scoring three goals. Grealish’s form and injuries kept him out of the England team for Euro 2024.

Shortly after the season premiere, the 28-year-old posted on social media, saying, “Come on the boys [light blue heart emojis]” I’m sad I can’t go out today, but I promise to come back as soon as I can [emoji of a light blue heart].”

Grealish will be eager to feature in City’s opening Premier League match of the season, which is against Chelsea on Sunday. Guardiola is optimistic about regaining the winger’s return. He purred, “What I’ve seen so far here, one week in the pre-season on tour, I loved it,” when discussing Grealish earlier this summer. “I don’t care how he performs; it’s his commitment and his trying every session. Against Barcelona, he made five or six shots and was aggressive with the ball; that’s all. His quality will take care of the rest after that,” Guardiola went on.

We are quite thrilled that he will soon become a father. All I ask of the athletes is that they play football because it’s something they enjoy doing.

“That relies on him, hopefully, and he’ll compete with everyone else for a spot in the starting lineup until the end of the season. What I observe in your training, habits, and performance—the better you do, the more opportunities you have.”