Pep Guardiola has left the door open for Jack Grealish’s return to Manchester City.
The England international has made a big impact at Everton since joining the Merseyside club on a season-long loan from City in August.
The 30-year-old playmaker had fallen down the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium.
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Guardiola does not need to find a way to contain Grealish when the clubs meet in the Premier League on Saturday as he cannot play against his parent club, but his form has not gone unnoticed.
City manager Guardiola said: “I think he has another year’s contract with us.
“The important thing is that he is back. He has a huge influence in Everton’s games. After what happened, Manchester City maybe want him back, but I don’t know.
“A lot of things are still going to happen. We’ll see.
“The important thing is that he plays again, for a lot of minutes. That’s the norm. I’m really happy, honestly, that he’s back and doing his best.”
Another player Guardiola is happy not to have to stop is Erling Haaland, who he says is in the best form of his career.
The prolific striker has scored a remarkable 21 goals in just 12 appearances for City or Norway this season.
Among his exploits were five goals against Moldova in September and a hat-trick against Israel last weekend that put Norway on the brink of World Cup qualification for the first time since 1998.
In nine outings for City, the defeat against Tottenham in September was the only one in which he failed to find the net.
His 12 goals for City this season take the 25-year-old’s tally for the club to 136 since leaving Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
Guardiola joked that he would need “four centre-backs” if he were an opposition manager.
He added: “I had the pleasure of facing him when he was at Dortmund and I hope I don’t face him again for the rest of my life.
“He is a top player. In world football there are four, five, six, ten players who make the difference. I think he is one of them. We have him, we hope for many years, and we are very happy with that.”
Asked if he thought it was the best Haaland has been, the Spaniard replied: “I think so.
“He feels really good and his performances, not just in terms of goals but also in terms of many other things, are exceptional.”
Guardiola said he did not feel the need to manage Haaland at the moment and would only intervene if he hit a rough patch.
He said: “What I’m saying is that [he’s] will go down because it’s impossible to maintain that, [but] I will be there, we will be there.
“We must always support [each other] in bad times. Now he doesn’t need compliments or anything special.”
