Sunderland's Ambitious Move for Jack Grealish Loan

Sunderland have made a bold move for Jack Grealish, lodging an ambitious loan offer with Manchester City that underlines just how far the winger’s stock has fallen – and how serious the Wearside club are about their European return.

The proposal, reported by The Athletic, would see City continue to shoulder a large chunk of the 30-year-old’s hefty wages, with Sunderland taking him for the season. Crucially, the package is understood to include an option to make the deal permanent next summer, when Grealish’s current contract at the Etihad expires.

If City agree, it would mark a dramatic change of scenery for a player once billed as the face of a new era in Manchester.

From £100m centrepiece to expendable asset

Grealish joined City from Aston Villa in a headline-grabbing £100m transfer, then a British record. He went on to make 159 appearances in all competitions and played a central role in the club’s historic Treble in 2022–23, operating as a near-automatic pick on the left flank across 50 games as City swept the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.

That version of Grealish feels a long way off now.

By the 2024–25 campaign his influence had shrunk dramatically. He managed only seven league starts, his season ending with the indignity of being left out of the squad entirely for the final league game against Fulham. Pep Guardiola insisted at the time it was “nothing personal”, but the message hardened when Grealish was also omitted from the Club World Cup squad.

This season has started in the same vein. He has been used only from the bench in City’s first two fixtures: a substitute appearance in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, followed by another second-half cameo in the 2-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth.

City’s stance has been clear for months. Reports in June indicated the champions were ready to sanction either a loan or a permanent exit. Sunderland are now trying to exploit that opening.

Sunderland’s European gamble

Regis Le Bris wants experience and personality to anchor a squad stepping into the Europa League, and Grealish ticks both boxes. Sunderland see an opportunity: a proven Premier League and Champions League performer whose need for minutes aligns with their need for star quality.

The Black Cats have already been busy. Thomas Meunier has arrived to add know-how at full-back, while young defender Dayann Methalie boosts depth at the back. In midfield, Jules Ahoka has been recruited to strengthen the options in the engine room.

Grealish, though, would be on a different level – the kind of statement signing that can change how opponents approach a Europa League night at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland’s hierarchy are attempting to structure the deal carefully. With City still paying a significant portion of his salary, the financial risk is reduced for a club operating well below the wage scale Grealish has grown used to. The option to buy next summer, aligned with the end of his City contract, gives Sunderland a clear route to a long-term agreement if the loan works.

Not the only winger on the list

Le Bris and Sunderland’s recruitment team are not putting all their hopes on one player. The pursuit of Grealish runs alongside talks for Marseille winger Igor Paixao, another wide option with a very different profile.

The 26-year-old Brazilian scored 12 goals in Ligue 1 last season and is seen as a more traditional goalscoring winger. Personal terms are not expected to be a stumbling block, but Sunderland still need to reach agreement with Marseille on a fee.

If both moves were to land, Le Bris would suddenly have a European-level front line to rotate as the demands of domestic and continental football bite.

A career at a crossroads

For Grealish, Sunderland’s interest comes at a pivotal moment. Last season’s loan at Everton was supposed to relaunch him as a guaranteed starter. Under David Moyes he showed flashes of the old swagger, registering two goals and six assists in 22 appearances before a stress fracture in his foot in January cut his campaign short.

Everton had a £50m option to buy written into the deal. They walked away. The injury, the fee, and their own financial constraints combined to close that door.

Now another one has opened in the North East. It would mean swapping the Champions League for the Europa League, and the comfort of a super-club for a project that demands leadership and resilience. It would also mean something Grealish has been starved of at City over the past year: the chance to be central again, not just the late substitute jogging down the touchline.

Manchester City have signalled they are ready to move on. Sunderland are ready to take the risk. The only question left is whether Grealish is prepared to let go of the Etihad and start again under the lights on Wearside.