Jack Grealish explanation and Nathan Ake injury update – Every word from part two of Pep Guardiola’s Brighton & Hove Albion preview

Pep Guardiola has issued a wider dialogue surrounding Jack Grealish and his selection in the England squad for November despite recent fitness struggles.

Manchester City travel to Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend as they look to bring an immediate end to a three-game losing streak on the road and across competitions, with the latest result coming in the UEFA Champions League.

Pep Guardiola and his players bring an end to a gruesome run of away fixtures that brought further misery in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday night as Sporting Lisbon inflicted a 4-1 drubbing over the Premier League champions.

The run of matches lost – which is the first time City have lost three matches in a row since April 2018 – coincides with a challenging list of injury problems as Guardiola remains without the likes of Ruben Dias, John Stones, Oscar Bobb, and Rodri.

However, confusion has centred around Jack Grealish over the last few days, with Guardiola quizzed successively on the Englishman after he was selected for England duty this month despite missing a run of fixtures with an injury.

Speaking during the second-half of his pre-Brighton media conference on Friday afternoon, here is every single word from the Manchester City manager on a wide-range of subject matter!

On if he has given the club any indication over when to expect a decision on his future

“I’ve said many times, I’m not going talk about this subject. When it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. We are in touch regularly, and what is going to happen is going to happen, always for the benefit of the club.”

On the loss of Julian Alvarez in the summer

“What we lost is the injuries that we have had all season. This is the problem. The rest, it’s happened. People came in, came out, the only difference to the previous eight seasons is the amount of injuries that we’ve never had and now we have for different reasons, sometimes it’s difficult to understand. This is the only reason.”

On whether even without the injuries Manchester City are one forward short

“No, we have a terrible squad.”

On contact with Lee Carsley over Jack Grealish

“No (he didn’t contact me).”

On whether he is surprised Jack Grealish has been picked

“It’s his decision. In 17 days he didn’t train once, today was the first training and trained 20 minutes. So, this is the reality.”

On whether the relationship between club football and international football is sustainable, and whether it can continue in the same way

“Always it has been like that in national teams, always they play this period. And I’m really pleased that the players, WHEN they are fit, when they didn’t struggle in the last one, two, three weeks, one month, go to the national team. I’m more than satisfied they go to represent his own country, they love to play with them. But when they don’t fit well for the reason that they struggle in the last month, I have the opinion they have to recover.”

On whether Jack Grealish would be ready to play for England having trained for the last few days

“In the gym, for a few minutes, yeah. In the last two days in the gym. (Would he be ready for England if selected?) It’s a question for the manager from the UK, so I’m not involved in that. They can select, I cannot add anything else. Only I said, the day after Wolves he was injured, 17 days out and today was the first training with the team.”

On Nathan Ake following his omission from the Netherlands squad

“Yeah, he’s getting better. He’s still not fully-fit, but he’s getting better.”

On whether Jack Grealish going with England could help with more training and perhaps some game time over the next two weeks

“Ah, maybe. I don’t know if he will be fit for 20 minutes, I don’t know. I’ve said, the manager from the UK will know better than me.”

On Jack Grealish’s season so far

“He’s had two or three setbacks in terms of injuries that could not be his rhythm, this is the only problem. (So how is he?) He has to (be upbeat), we have to (keep him motivated). At the end, he has to be fit to play. But it’s not only Jack, there are many players that happened, this is the reality.”

On James McAtee potential starting soon

“Yes, it can happen. We don’t have much players and it can happen. Always it’s difficult when you don’t play much minutes but the rhythm and the pace was really, really good and of course, he’s there.”

On if Lee Carsley doesn’t contact him, how can he call-up a player knowing whether they are fit or not

“I don’t know. The medical department didn’t tell me they spoke. I don’t know.”

On whether it is improper of England to not ask whether a player is fit enough to be called up or not

“They can select all the players that they want. And Jack today trained and they believe that he can help, I’m not the guy to say, ‘You can not go!’ Only I’ve said, for my team, for tomorrow, he’s not fit. So he can not play tomorrow, that is the only thing I can say. And after that, since a little bit more than two weeks, he didn’t train. And the people from England believe that he can help them, so go.”

On whether he has spoken to Jack Grealish about him being called up for England

“Yeah. (What did he say?) ‘I want to go to the national team’. (Are you surprised by that?) No.”

On saying the players were not ‘emotionally stable’ against Sporting

“Just with the penalty that we conceded, that’s all. At 2-1 always you can come back, we have a penalty on 69 minutes. And for the action, of course it’s a penalty in the Champions League it’s different, it’s a penalty, here in the Premier League it would not be given. But in Europe it’s given, because the way the referees conduct is a little bit different. And we will improve on that.”