Sunderland's Ambitious Loan Bid for Jack Grealish
Sunderland have launched a bold move for Jack Grealish, tabling an ambitious loan offer to Manchester City that would see the 30-year-old winger swap the Etihad for the Stadium of Light, according to The Athletic.
The proposal leans heavily on City’s financial muscle. The champions would continue to pay a significant portion of Grealish’s hefty wages, easing the burden on Sunderland as they gear up for a season that includes Europa League football. Crucially, the package is understood to include an option to make the transfer permanent next summer, when Grealish’s current City deal is due to expire.
If it happens, it would mark a dramatic turn in a career that has drifted from centre stage. Once the £100m poster boy of City’s project, Grealish is now searching for regular minutes and a fresh start.
Last season was supposed to be that reset. Sent on loan to Everton, he put together a solid, if interrupted, campaign under David Moyes: two goals, six assists, 22 appearances. Then came the setback. A stress fracture in his foot in January cut the season short and stalled his momentum just as he looked settled on Merseyside.
Everton had a £50m option to buy the England international. They walked away. No trigger, no permanent move, just another question mark over where Grealish fits in the elite landscape.
Now Sunderland sense an opportunity.
Sunderland’s European gamble
Regis Le Bris wants more than just enthusiasm and potential for Sunderland’s return to Europe. He wants players who have lived the highest level. Grealish, with his Champions League nights and title runs, fits that brief perfectly.
The pursuit of the City winger sits alongside another ambitious target: Marseille wide man Igor Paixao. Personal terms with the 26-year-old Brazilian, who hit 12 goals in Ligue 1 last season, are not expected to be a stumbling block. The problem lies between the clubs, with Sunderland still needing to find agreement with Marseille.
The intent is clear. Sunderland are not drifting into the Europa League to make up the numbers.
They have already moved decisively in the market. Experienced full-back Thomas Meunier has arrived to stiffen the back line. Young defender Dayann Methalie has been added to deepen the options at the back. In midfield, Jules Ahoka has come in to give Le Bris another profile in the engine room.
Grealish, though, would be something else entirely. A statement that Sunderland see themselves as more than a plucky outsider on the continental stage.
City ready to move on
City’s stance has been softening for months. Reports in June made it clear: the Premier League champions were prepared to let Grealish go, whether on loan or permanently, if the right offer landed.
This is the same player they prised from Aston Villa in a landmark £100m deal, the club’s former record signing and a symbol of their financial might. He has played 159 times for City in all competitions, a tally that includes some of the most important nights in the club’s history.
His status now looks very different.
Grealish has been reduced to a supporting role at the start of this season. He came off the bench in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, then again as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 2-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth. Cameos, not command performances.
The contrast with 2022-23 is stark. That year, he was one of the pillars of City’s Treble. Fifty appearances, a permanent presence on the left, and a key cog as City stormed through the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
By 2024-25, his influence had shrunk dramatically. Just seven league starts. No late-season surge, no revival, only a slow fade. The low point came when he was left out of the squad entirely for the final league game against Fulham. Pep Guardiola insisted it was “nothing personal”, but the message only grew louder when Grealish was also omitted from the Club World Cup squad.
Now Sunderland are testing just how ready City are to turn the page.
If the deal gets done, Grealish swaps the fight for minutes in Manchester for a central role in a European campaign in the North East. If it doesn’t, the question lingers: how long can a £100m Treble winner stay on the fringes before someone, somewhere, forces a decisive break?
