Fuming Pep Guardiola ignites Man City vs England row with blunt Jack Grealish verdict

Pep Guardiola threw Manchester City into a row with the Football Association by brutally unpicking interim England coach Lee Carsley's claims about Jack Grealish.

The forward has been missing for City for three weeks so his inclusion in Carsley's final Three Lions squad selection for next week's Nations League fixtures with Greece and the Republic of Ireland was a surprise. Carsley said Grealish had trained for two days this week, and vowed to assess his condition on arrival with the squad.

Carsley added that England had spoken to clubs about players they had called up but an angry Guardiola disputed the claim and also said Grealish had not trained outside prior to Carsley's now-controversial comments.

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Guardiola was clearly unhappy at the situation, repeating more than once that the selection decision was 'a question for the manager of the UK [England]'. Pressed on Grealish's condition, he said: No [Carsley didn't talk to him]. It is his decision. For the last 17 days, [Grealish] didn't train once. Today the first training and trained 20 minutes. This is the reality."

Guardiola later clarified that Grealish had trained for two days in the gym as he steps up his recovery but wouldn't commit to saying that his winger would be able to play any part in England's two fixtures. He did say that Grealish had asked to link up with England.

"I’m always pleased for players to go – when they are fit," Guardiola said. "And when they haven’t struggled for the last one, two, three, four weeks. I’m more than satisfied for them to play."

Guardiola's