Pep Guardiola gives one-word answer to Jack Grealish question before Fulham clash | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given a simple, one-word response to questions around Jack Grealish’s absence from his squad at Fulham on Sunday.

The Premier League concludes this weekend with plenty still to decide at the top of the table, despite Liverpool’s early claiming of the division’s title – ending Manchester City’s run of four consecutive successes in the top-flight.

For Pep Guardiola and his players, the campaign concludes with their place in the UEFA Champions League unknown as they require just one point to cement their position in the top-five of the league and a seat at the top table of European football.

That fate comes after a crucial 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday night, as goals from Omar Marmoush, Bernardo Silva, and Nico Gonzalez ensured that City’s Champions League future remained firmly in their own hands.

But on a big afternoon for the football club, Pep Guardiola’s selection has once again taken centre stage ahead of kick-off with Jack Grealish the main and most notable absentee from the travelling party in West London.

The England international, after a hugely difficult season on both a personal and collective note, has not travelled alongside his teammates and as such will play no part in the clash against Fulham.

Pep Guardiola has made a big point of the challenge of selecting just 20 players for a teamsheet from a Manchester City squad that now stands at in excess of 26 players with the roster largely at it’s fittest and most full compliment all season.

And speaking ahead of kick-off at Craven Cottage, the Manchester City manager appeared to credit being forced to leave out stars as the reason why Grealish is not with the side, as he simply said, “Selection”, when asked of the former Aston Villa captain.

While Pep Guardiola has since clarified that he was joking about threatening to quit Manchester City over an increase to his squad size next season, the Catalan coach has also insisted that the feeling remains the same over preferring a smaller roster.

“I said to the club, ‘I don’t want that!’ I don’t want to put five, six players in the tribune, I don’t want that… It’s impossible for my soul to put players in the tribune and cannot play. Now it happened because we added four players,” Guardiola said during a recent press conference.

“Three or four months we could not select 11 players; we didn’t have defenders, so difficult. After people came back and next season it cannot be like that.

“As a manager, I cannot be training 24 players and when I select there has to be four, five, six staying in Manchester at home because they can’t play. This isn’t going to happen. I said to the club I don’t want that.”

The visit to Fulham sees seven first-team Manchester City players miss out on the travelling squad including Grealish, with Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Oscar Bobb, and James McAtee also left out.

John Stones plays no part as he continues his recovery from a long-standing injury problem, while Mateo Kovacic is suspended for the game following the straight red card he picked up against Bournemouth on Tuesday night.