Guardiola says axed Grealish needs to get 'butterflies back in his stomach'

"Jack is an exceptional player. The only reason he didn't play last season was, of course, my decisions," Guardiola told reporters in Philadelphia, where City will play Wydad Casablanca in their opening game on Wednesday, without the England international winger.

"We decided it was best that he stays and has a place where he can get back to what he was in the year of the treble or all his career at Aston Villa."

Grealish joined City in 2021 and was a standout on their run to Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup glory in 2023. However, he started only 10 Premier League games in the following season and only 16 times across all competitions in this campaign.

"Without him it would have been more difficult to achieve what we did in the treble season, but the fact is that the last two seasons he has not played much minutes," Guardiola added.

"He has to get back to playing and having the butterflies in his stomach that he needs to play every three days."

However, the former Barcelona coach appeared to suggest that the player's future did not necessarily lie away from the Etihad Stadium. "No, no. I don't know, but for now we decided not to come here," he said.

City, who finished third in the Premier League, added four new signings in the recent transfer window to freshen up their squad for the Club World Cup.

They brought in Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, exciting French creator Rayan Cherki, left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and back-up goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.

"We are really pleased because all of them have huge quality," Guardiola said. "With this incredible amount of games we have until the end of the season, 11 months, every three or four days, everyone is going to play."

Time to turn the page

The last season was one of the hardest of Guardiola's coaching career and he sees the Club World Cup as the first tournament of the new campaign, and therefore a chance to turn the page.

"It is the beginning of the season. In sport, what happened in the past, good or bad, is forgotten so we feel like we are starting the season," he said.

City are expected to ease through to the last 16 from Group G, in which they will also meet Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and Italian giants Juventus.

First up at Lincoln Financial Field is Morocco's Wydad, a leading name in North African football, who qualified for the Club World Cup as a recent winner of the CAF Champions League.

"Football has grown up a lot all around the world. All these teams have individual quality," said Guardiola, refusing to take Wednesday's opponents lightly.

"A good example is Riyad Mahrez from Algeria. Oh my God, what a player. They have incredible players. We have huge, huge respect. We saw what we could see of them. We have a game plan, we are here to make a good tournament and tomorrow we start."