Pep Guardiola has expressed his frustration after England manager Lee Carsley included Jack Grealish in his squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, despite the Manchester City star not being fully fit.
Grealish has been sidelined for the past three weeks due to a training-related injury and is unlikely to feature in City’s final match before the international break, a trip to Brighton on Saturday.
However, Carsley, who will step aside after the upcoming fixtures against Greece and the Republic of Ireland for Thomas Tuchel, has chosen to call up Grealish.
During a tense press conference on Friday, Guardiola made it clear that he was not happy with Carsley’s decision.
When asked if the England call-up meant that Grealish was, in fact, fit, the Man City manager said: “No. It’s a question for the England manager. I’m not involved.
“They can select who they want. But no, he’s not fit.
“It’s [Carsley’s] decision. In 17 days he didn’t train once. Today [Thursday] was his first training and he trained for 20 minutes. This is the reality.
“It’s always has been like that.
“National teams always play in this period and I’m always pleased for players to go.
“When they are fit, and they haven’t struggled for the last one, two, three, four weeks.
“They love to play with their national teams. When they are fit and don’t struggle in the last month. I have the opinion they have to recover.”
When he was then asked if Grealish joining up with the England national team could boost his fitness, Pep Guardiola added: “Maybe. I don’t know.
“The manager from England will know better than me.”
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