Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been criticized for keeping Jack Grealish short of his optimum.
Former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster blasted Guardiola, stating that the Catalan’s disciplined regime at the Etihad Stadium has cramped Grealish, who thrives on freedom.
Grealish left Aston Villa to join Manchester City in 2021 for a then-British record fee of £100 million.
Even though he played an integral role in City’s 2022-23 treble-winning campaign, the winger has gone down the pecking order in the Guardiola era.
The Englishman has started just six Premier League games this season, with Brazilian winger Savinho taking his spot forward since the start of the season.
Manchester City may release the English striker in the summer, as per reports.
Ben Foster has also asked the Englishman to look for another club where he can play freely.
Foster said on Fozcast podcast, “It’s been a great success for his bank balance, I’ll tell you that. His trophy cabinet and his bank balance are absolutely popping.
“In those 150 appearances, he’s probably made about £70 million as well. But the sad fact of it is that Grealish doesn’t get near the front three of any top Premier League team.
“I think Grealish needs a bit of freedom now to go to a team where the manager will say to him, ‘Jack, go out there and do what you do for me, please’.
“I don’t blame Grealish for doing what he did. He was the best player at Aston Villa, Villa fans absolutely loved him. He went out there every single day and expressed himself and everybody loved him for that.
“Man City bought him for an awful lot of money, a ridiculous amount of money in fact, and then almost put the shackles on him. That’s exactly what happened – they’re buying a player and then not playing him in the way that he’s supposed to be played.”
