Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has ripped into Jack Grealish and unfavourably compared him to fellow winger and team-mate Savinho.

Upon his return from injury, Grealish has watched from the sidelines as City winger Savinho has started ahead of him in the past two games. Following the Citizens' 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Saturday, which saw Savinho lay on three assists, manager Guardiola has said the summer signing is in "better shape and everything" than Grealish and suggested the England international may not be giving his "best" at present.

Guardiola said, via The Telegraph: “I fought a lot for him [Grealish], fought a lot to be here – to say ‘come on, do it again, do it again’. I saw him, I saw your level and I want that, every single training session and every single game. If not, Savinho. Does anyone think Savinho doesn’t deserve to play? No. He deserves [it]. That’s why I play him because he produces. As much as he looks at himself, he will see the competition and he has to compete, himself. Savinho is in better shape and everything than Jack and that’s why I played Savinho. I want the Jack that won the treble? Yeah. I want it. But I try to be honest with myself for that.

“What happened with Savinho’s delivery in the box? It’s higher than the other wingers in that position. And they have to fight. You have to prove ‘OK, I’m going to fight with Savinho, to deserve to play in that position’. And every single day, and every single week and every single month. Two weeks ago, Jack was injured and he needs rhythm and to play but players need training. I don’t have any doubt about the quality of Jack or any of these players. But they have to, right now, today at 3pm, be at your best. It’s not about what they have done or will do, it’s about 3pm. The one hour 30 minutes, or one hour, 45 minutes, we’re going to play, the responsibility belongs to the players, not to me.”

Grealish swapped Aston Villa for City in 2021 in a £100 million ($124m) club-record deal. But in 144 appearances he has scored just 14 goals and bagged 20 assists. He is struggling for game time, has been told to make a Etihad transfer exit and is not the player he once was at Villa. And with Savinho firing on all cylinders at the moment, the 29-year-old could become more of a fringe player as the season progresses.

City begin their FA Cup campaign on Saturday at home to League Two side Salford City. Grealish will hope to feature in that third round cup clash, but it remains to be seen if Guardiola grants him the chance to try and win his place back.