Guardiola said: “Listen, Jack played at (Leyton) Orient and was really good, then played against Madrid afterwards.
This was seen in the first leg of City’s recent Champions League tie against Real Madrid, when Grealish played a lively 30 minutes from the start only to suffer an injury and be withdrawn.
Grealish came off the bench for the final minute of the midweek Premier League win at Tottenham but Guardiola is yet to decide if he will feature in Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Championship Plymouth.
That option can be triggered if the German, who has played 37 times in 2024-25, makes a certain number of appearances and Guardiola has revealed that clause is close to being triggered.
“There is no question mark about his quality – I’ve never ever doubted the quality Jack has – but because of problems he has not played three games in a row.
