Pep Guardiola is seething with Lee Carsley for picking Manchester City crock Jack Grealish in his latest England squad.
Grealish has been sidelined for three weeks after picking up an unspecified injury in training. The £100m winger only returned to training on Thursday for the first time, following 17 days of inactivity.
Grealish will not be included in City’s squad for Saturday’s trip to Brighton, because Guardiola insists he is not fit enough to be involved.
But despite all this, interim England boss Carsley has still decided to name Grealish in his squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Greece and Republic of Ireland.
Carsley had claimed Grealish returned to training earlier this week, something Guardiola insists is wrong. Guardiola admits Carsley didn’t even contact him to discuss Grealish’s fitness – and is less than impressed.
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And to make matters worse, Grealish has risked the wrath of Guardiola after telling the Spaniard he wanted to join up with the Three Lions.
When asked if he had been consulted, Guardiola said: “No. It’s a question for the manager from the UK. I’m not involved. They can select who they want. But no, he’s not fit. It’s his decision (Carsley’s). 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.0
When asked if Grealish joining up with England could boost his fitness, Guardiola added: “Maybe. I don’t know. The manager from the UK will know better than me.”