- Jack Grealish has spoken about not being picked for Euro 2024
- Winger did not earn a spot after failing to impress at club level
- England went on to reach the final without him
Jack Grealish has reflected on his summer out of England’s Euro 2024 squad, admitting that missing out on a seat on the plane was “heartbreaking”.
The Manchester City star’s summer didn’t play out quite the way he expected it to. While the 26-player Three Lions group flew to Germany, Grealish was forced to watch their journey to the final from home, after being left off Gareth Southgate’s list.
It was a huge change from Euro 2020, where Grealish played a vital role in England reaching the final in that one. But, a disappointing season at club level saw the winger miss out on a chance to impress in Germany – after netting just three goals in 36 appearances for City.
“I’ll be honest it was probably, football-wise, the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my career,” he said whilst on pre-season tour with City. “I was absolutely heartbroken.
“Obviously when you’re on your holidays, wherever I was, every time you turn on the phone or turn on the TV or whatever, you just see it. So it was hard to not see it. For myself now, moving forward, I have to just try to use that as motivation going into this season and try to have the same mentality as I had two years ago.
“In my first season at City I don’t think I performed as well as I could and in the second season I played in a lot of the games and that was down to the first season. I had wanted to come back stronger and I certainly did that, so hopefully I can do that again.
“This is my chance to get my fitness, to have a two-week headstart and try to be as fit as possible. And I’m playing with confidence. I feel like that’s what I need and fingers crossed I can do that.”
City launch their 2024/25 Premier League campaign on 18 August when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. They will first, however, meet Manchester United in the Community Shield.
