Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, former Manchester City defender Steve Howey has hinted at Jack Grealish potentially taking Raheem Sterling's spot in the Premier League champions' starting XI.

Both players started in the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham, with Grealish deployed in midfield alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho and Sterling used further forward in attack.

However, star man Kevin De Bruyne was left on the bench for the opening fixture, while Phil Foden is currently unavailable for selection due to injury.

When both players are fully fit, you would expect them to be selected by Pep Guardiola, meaning someone like Sterling or Grealish could drop out. And Howey thinks it could be the former, with Grealish likely to operate in his position further up the pitch.

When asked by TT who could be sacrificed in order to accommodate the former Aston Villa captain, the ex-City star said:

"Well we know with Raheem sometimes he didn't start [last season] and that was without Grealish there."

While it would not be a shock to see Grealish have to settle for the bench now and again as a result of Guardiola's rotation policy, having signed him for £100m, it is hard to imagine the £300,000-a-week England international spending too much time out of the side.