Jack Grealish once said that during long, lonely spells on the sidelines due to injury, he would watch highlights of himself to “get my love of football back”.
In 2024, he did not provide Manchester City forward with many clips to add to his motivational reel. During the year he stayed home for Euro 2024, he lost his place in Pep Guardiola’s starting 11 and endured worst losing streak in City’s modern history, Grealish has failed to score a single club goal.
In a painfully neat account of the struggles that plagued the affable 29-year-old, Grealish was left to watch from the bench as City nervously clung to A 2-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday afternoon. The defending champions secured three precious points but Grealish was denied the chance to end his 12-month wait for a goal.
|
Statistics in all competitions |
Value |
|---|---|
|
Games |
32 |
|
minute |
1,601 |
|
Objectives |
0 |
|
Recordings |
34 |
|
Goal kicks |
8 |
|
Assists |
3 |
|
Trophies |
1 |
Grealish scored twice for England in 2024 – scoring twice in three games during Lee Carsley’s short-lived interim reign – but has not netted in a competitive club game since netting in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on 16 December 2023. Ironically, the striker it was the third goal in three consecutive Premier League games – the best hitting streak in his entire first league career.
Although Grealish has never presented himself as a prolific striker – he has only once broken into double figures in a single season in his career – 2024 marks the first time he has failed to score for the senior club in an entire calendar year since his professional debut more than a decade ago.
The clean sheet total is the number that attracts the most attention, but the miserable number of efforts is more of a concern for Grealish. This wasn’t a case of miscalibrated radar, it barely had any chance of missing. The increasingly injury-prone forward spent more days on the sidelines (39) than he had attempts on goal, mustering just 34 in 32 appearances.
In defense of the lovable, charitable persona he is nonetheless booed at every away ground, Grealish played a part in City’s 2023/24 Premier League title. However, the call for more attacking “shine” which Guardiola to his £100m recruit at the start of last season was remarkably unanswered.
Like January transfer the window creaks open, ending Grealish’s countdown to avoid another barren year, there have been reports of an exit route for the unaligned forward. Both Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are tracking the former Aston Villa academy graduate, according to Daily Mail. Whether an injury-ravaged City side can afford the departure of any warm bodies – even those enduring a goal drought like Grealish – remains to be seen.
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