Sunderland make move for Jack Grealish as Manchester City weigh loan exit

Sunderland have submitted an offer to Manchester City for Jack Grealish as they explore an ambitious season-long loan for the England international ahead of their return to European competition.

The proposal would see Grealish spend the remainder of the 2026/27 season at the Stadium of Light, with City continuing to cover part of his salary. According to The Athletic, Sunderland would also be open to keeping the 30-year-old beyond the loan when his current Manchester City contract expires next summer.

No agreement has been reached and City have not yet accepted Sunderland’s offer.

That distinction remains important, but the approach itself represents a significant statement from a club whose trajectory has changed dramatically over the past 15 months.

Sunderland returned to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs in 2025 and then produced one of the most remarkable campaigns by a promoted side in the competition’s modern era. Régis Le Bris guided them to seventh place last season, securing Europa League qualification and taking the club back into European competition for the first time in more than half a century.

Grealish would bring a different level of experience to that project.

He joined Manchester City from Aston Villa for £100 million in 2021 and became an important part of the side that won the Treble two years later. His status at the Etihad has since changed substantially, however, and he spent the entire 2025/26 campaign on loan at Everton.

That spell was disrupted by a serious foot injury which curtailed his season and forced him through an extended rehabilitation programme. Grealish has since returned to City and featured as a substitute in both the Community Shield against Arsenal and the opening Premier League victory over Bournemouth.

Those appearances demonstrated that he remains part of Enzo Maresca’s available squad, but they have not removed the uncertainty surrounding his longer-term future.

City have reshaped their attacking options aggressively this summer. Sávio has moved to Tottenham, Omar Marmoush is also heading towards north London after the clubs agreed a separate deal, and the wider reconstruction of Maresca’s squad has created an unusually fluid final week of the window.

For Grealish, the central question is now playing time.

His best football has traditionally come when given sustained responsibility rather than isolated appearances. At Aston Villa he was the dominant creative reference point; at City, the competition for places and tactical demands of an elite possession side required a different role. Sunderland would offer the possibility of becoming a central figure again rather than one of several attacking options.

The tactical fit carries intrigue.

Le Bris has built Sunderland around organisation, intensity and collective discipline, but last season’s success also increased the need for players capable of deciding matches when structure alone is not enough. Grealish remains an elite ball-carrier when healthy, can draw defenders out of position and offers the type of control in advanced areas that becomes particularly valuable against compact opposition.

European football adds another consideration.

Sunderland will have to manage a significantly heavier schedule this season after qualifying for the Europa League. Adding a player with Premier League, Champions League and international experience would give Le Bris both depth and a proven option for matches carrying greater tactical and psychological demands.

The proposed structure also limits Sunderland’s financial exposure.

Rather than committing immediately to a major permanent fee for a 30-year-old entering the final year of his contract, a loan would allow the club to assess Grealish over a full season while Manchester City continue to contribute towards his salary. If the relationship succeeds, Sunderland would then be positioned to explore keeping him once his City contract expires.

There is competition for attacking places and Sunderland are pursuing other targets in parallel, including Marseille winger Igor Paixão. Their approach for Grealish should therefore be viewed as part of an ambitious attempt to increase the quality of Le Bris’ forward options rather than a deal that has already dictated the rest of their window.

For Manchester City, the decision is equally significant.

Keeping Grealish would preserve experienced depth during a season of substantial squad turnover. Allowing him to leave would create further room within Maresca’s attacking group while giving a high-earning player entering the final year of his contract the regular football he has struggled to secure at the Etihad.

The offer is now on the table.

Sunderland have turned their interest into a concrete proposal, but the decisive steps — Manchester City’s response and Grealish’s final position on the move — are still to come.

For a club preparing to return to Europe after more than 50 years, even reaching this stage of a pursuit for a player of Grealish’s profile says something about how rapidly Sunderland’s ambitions have changed.