Pep Guardiola backs Jack Grealish to break into England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad

Jack Grealish has received a personal message of support from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after completing a loan move to Everton last week.

After making seven Premier League starts for Manchester City last term, Grealish has joined Everton on loan for the 2025-26 campaign to revitalise his career and stake a claim in Thomas Tuchel’s 2026 FIFA World Cup England squad.

Tuchel has made it clear that Grealish needs to be playing week-in, week-out to be in contention for the Three Lions, with the former Aston Villa in and out of Pep Guardiola’s preferred starting XI in the previous two campaigns.

Grealish, who joined Manchester City for a club record £100 million in 2021, played a starring role in the club’s historic 2022-23 treble winning campaign but having failed to kick on from his heroics from 2023, a parting of ways was agreed upon ahead of the summer transfer window.

Everton are understood to have agreed to cover 75% of Grealish’s wages – believed to be around £300,000-per-week – as he looks to rediscover his best self and send a message to Tuchel ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Grealish struggled with form and injuries for a majority of the recent campaign, with an acceptance that his Manchester City career is effectively over after arguably justifying the financial outlay made to secure his services from Aston Villa in just one of his four seasons at the Etihad Stadium.

City have shown the door to Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Scott Carson this summer, with James McAtee also securing his desired move to Nottingham Forest last week for a fee of £30 million. Ederson could leave for Galatasaray in the coming weeks, with City eyeing Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma as a replacement should the move go through.

Hugo Viana stepped in as Manchester City’s director of football earlier in the summer and orchestrated the acquisition of six new signings, with Guardiola welcoming a contingent of fresh blood to his ranks in the form of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Sverre Nypan and James Trafford.

City got off to a strong start to their 2025-26 Premier League campaign on Saturday as a five-star performance from Reijnders led the Blues to a 4-0 battering of Wolves at the Molineux Stadium, with Erling Haaland scoring twice and debutants Cherki and Trafford impressing.

Speaking in a press conference prior to the opening day victory over Wolves, Guardiola was quizzed for his thoughts on Grealish’s loan move to Everton after a drawn-out situation over the course of the summer.

“It’s the same as all the players, especially Jack (Grealish). Of course, we wish him all the best at this traditional club like is Everton – and hopefully he can play, play, and play,” the 54-year-old said.

“This is the reason why we decided all together, alongside him (Grealish), that the best for him is to take minutes – and play, play and play.”