Why Jack Grealish is absent from Manchester City’s squad against Fulham

Jack Grealish has not travelled with the Manchester City first-team squad for their Premier League clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola’s side are three games away from a historic fourth consecutive league title triumph, with Fulham posing the latest test for the European champions in their bid to retain domestic glory.

City enjoyed a 5-1 thrashing of Wolves in their latest league outing, with Erling Haaland netting four times and Julian Alvarez striking late on at the Etihad Stadium last weekend.

Haaland keeps his place in the starting XI as Manchester City face a test in west London, where they were held to an enthralling 4-4 draw by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in November.

Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne make up the rest of the attack for the Blues at Craven Cottage, with Mateo Kovacic partnering the evergreen Rodri in the middle of the park.

One major absentee from the matchday squad is Manchester City’s record signing Jack Grealish, who is ill and thereby hasn’t journeyed with the first-team to London for the fixture, as per Mike Minay of the BBC.

Grealish has enjoyed a mixed-bag of a campaign after playing a key role in City’s treble success last term, being in and out of the first-team and struggling to kick on from what was notably a breakthrough second season in the north-west.

It remains to be seen if Grealish will be back in time for City’s upcoming league trip to north London in midweek, when Guardiola’s men take on Tottenham Hotspur in a monumental game that could have major implications in the race for the title and top four.