Man City boss Pep Guardiola hands apology to Jack Grealish – ‘I feel so sorry’

The £100million Manchester City star has struggled for form and regular action at the Etihad Stadium this season and has paid for it with his England spot after being snubbed by new boss Thomas Tuchel

Pep Guardiola apologised to Jack Grealish for not giving the £100million winger enough game time to win back his England place.

Grealish was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad, with the new Three Lions boss admitting the reason for his omission was his lack of minutes for City.

Asked how tough it was to leave Grealish – who has not started a Premier League game since December – on the bench again, Guardiola said: “I feel so sorry for all of the players who don’t play.

“What can I say? Kova [Mateo Kovacic], Nico O’Reilly) and James McAtee. I know that. When we have games every three days, it’s easy for the rotation, but now I have to decide every game for the quality they have.

“Jeremy Doku was outstanding, the way he got the ball to the byline so many times. Savinho missed chances, but he was really good.

“All the managers around the world have to make the right decision. When they select 11, they have to believe they’re going to win.

“I never found a manager who selects a team thinking it’s going to lose. So I try and, if we win, I’m right and if we don’t, it could be better.

“I try to be honest. I needed speed up front, I needed stability in the middle, with Gundo’s [Ilkay Gundogan] intelligence and the physicality from Nico, because I saw many times, with Brighton ’s physicality, how good they are.”

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