Grealish Takes No.18 as City Face Contract Crossroads
Jack Grealish will wear the No.18 shirt for Manchester City in the 2026/27 season, according to the latest update on the club's official website. The confirmation arrives with the 30-year-old entering the final year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium.
The England international spent last season on loan at Everton, where he was rebuilding his career after struggling for regular minutes in the campaigns following City's historic 2022/23 treble under Pep Guardiola. Everton covered 75 per cent of his wages — understood to be around £300,000-per-week — and hold a £50 million buy option to make the move permanent.
Everton CEO Angus Kinnear has revealed the Merseyside club have "remained in contact" with Grealish, but conceded the winger's immediate future rests with Manchester City.
Grealish made his long-awaited return to City action in last week's Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, coming on at half-time in Cardiff in place of Jeremy Doku. The substitute appearance followed his recovery from a foot bone stress fracture suffered in January while at Everton.
The immediate question is whether Grealish features in City's opening Premier League fixture against Bournemouth at the Etihad on Sunday. Doku, reportedly carrying a calf injury from the Arsenal match, is now a major doubt for the Cherries clash.
Beyond that, the picture grows murkier. From January 1, 2027, Grealish will be free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with other clubs, and there is next to no chance at present that City offer him a new deal beyond next summer.
City are far from the finished article in their squad rebuild as they prepare for their first season beyond Guardiola, who ended his trophy-laden decade in the north-west in May. Grealish's shirt number is settled, but his longer-term future remains anything but.