MIAMI (AP) — Jack Grealish has been left out of Manchester City’s squad for the Club World Cup.
City manager Pep Guardiola named a 27-man squad for the tournament, which kicks off in Miami on Saturday, with Grealish a notable omission.
The England forward was a British record signing when he moved to City from Aston Villa for 100 million pounds ($139 million then) in 2021 and went on to help the club win three Premier League titles, the Champions League and a host of other trophies.
But he has become an increasingly peripheral figure and made only seven league starts last season.
The 29-year-old Grealish’s absence from the Club World Cup will add to the growing expectation that he will leave during the offseason, with Guardiola embarking on a squad rebuild following the team’s first trophyless season in eight years.
City’s squad includes four new players signed in time to take part in the month-long tournament in the United States: Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli.
In January, City also spent big to sign Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis as Guardiola began his overhaul of a squad that saw its dominance of English soccer broken by Liverpool last season.
If Grealish goes, he is likely to be one of a number of players to move on. Kevin De Bruyne is leaving at the end of his contract this month and Kyle Walker is also likely to go after a loan move to AC Milan in January; as expected, neither player was in the squad.
City’s first match at the 32-team tournament is against Wydad Casablanca next Wednesday in Philadelphia. The other teams in the group are Juventus and Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain.
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