Grealish offered shock Premier League lifeline after Man City U-turn

Sunderland have made a loan bid for Jack Grealish with his Manchester City future still unclear ahead of the transfer window closing.

The winger spent last year at Everton and remains on the fringes at the Etihad despite a change in manager and the Black Cats are hopeful of landing a major coup in the form of the England international.

Sunderland, who are having to prepare a squad capable of playing domestically and in Europe, have tabled an offer that would not only see City cover part of his salary but also include the chance to make the move permanent next summer when his contract expires, reports The Athletic.

City have always been open to Grealish leaving - be it on loan or permanently - and that still remains the case despite Savinho's exit to Tottenham with Omar Marmoush set to follow him.

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Despite being frozen out by Pep Guardiola, who made it clear he had no future at The Etihad, the 30-year-old has come on as a second-half substitute in each of City’s first two games this season - the Community Shield loss to Arsenal and Sunday’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth in their Premier League opener.

Everton turned down the option of making Grealish's loan move a permanent one, which would've cost them £50million, and he's returned to Manchester as a result. The playmaker sustained a stress fracture in his foot in January which curtailed the remainder of his season on Merseyside. Before that Grealish had made 22 appearances, scoring two goals and providing six assists.

Grealish, up until recently, remained City's record signing having joined from Aston Villa for £100m back in 2021. He was a regular initially but has struggled to live up to his price tag.

City's new manager, Enzo Maresca said on Grealish's future: "Jack (Grealish), again, until the day he isn't here, it's my duty to try and coach Jack and to try to get the best from him. It's one more week to go (until the transfer window closes) and we'll see what happens, not only with Jack, but with more players."

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