Jack Grealish and Man City stars absent from England training after celebrations

Jack Grealish and other England internationals in the Manchester City squad will be expected to join up with the rest of Gareth Southgate’s team on Tuesday evening. The Three Lions trained at St George’s Park ahead of their upcoming matches but the City quintet were given some leeway to enjoy their celebrations.

City became the second English team to ever win the treble on Saturday night after Rodri’s goal saw them beat Inter Milan in the Champions League final. After a brief few moments of reflection that saw Grealish and Kyle Walker both forced to hold back the tears in respective interviews, attention soon turned to celebrating the achievement.

The party went through the night in Istanbul before the squad returned to England, though they didn’t spend long in the country. A large group of players and staff then jetted off for a night in Ibiza before flying back in time for the trophy parade in Manchester – with the looks on the faces of the players showing they certainly had not hit pause on the celebrations.

Though those due on international duty soon will be forced to quickly sober up and get their belongings together, with Sky Sports reporting that City’s five Englishmen are expected to link up with the rest of the squad on Tuesday night. Grealish, Phil Foden, John Stones, Walker and Kalvin Phillips are all expected to travel to St George’s Park just 24 hours after City’s treble-winning parade.

Southgate is keen to work with a full squad as soon as possible, though those heading down from the Etihad Stadium will be ‘physically and emotionally assessed’ before a decision is made on whether they are able to start later this week.

England have two Euro 2024 qualifiers to think about as they look to retain their flawless record in the group stages. Southgate’s side travel to the Ta’Qali National Stadium on Friday to take on Malta before returning to take on North Macedonia at Old Trafford on Monday.

It remains to be seen what condition Grealish arrives in given that he did not think that he had slept since City lifted the Champions League trophy. The ex-Aston Villa star has also been spotted worse for wear on countless occasions whilst bearing a grin and clasping an alcoholic beverage.

Southgate will certainly have to assess whether the playmaker is capable of performing against Malta or if he feels he has enough depth to allow him, and other City stars, to rest after four days of relentless partying.