he probably wanted to be a starter in key CL games too. he was benched for 2x Dortmund games, 2x PSG games last zear in the business end of CL also this year in both Real games, Atletico 2nd leg.
than Pep surprisingly started him in CL final as a striker, which was hardly a good idea...
there is no way for him to play more minutes than last season. even with Jesus gone, as Haaland will eat up lot of minutes so whoever played in false 9, and Sterling had fair share of minutes of false 9 just as Jesus and Foden, those game time will now be allocated to Haaland-Alvarez. the rest has to to play more on the wing, meaning we need wingers outgoing deffo to be able to give enough game time to the rest.
last season when Sterling, Foden, Grealish didnt start on the wing, one of them often started as a false 9. next year that position in a more natural CF style will be taken by Haaland.
Grealish is still a huge question mark tho, as even if he hits a big second season, he isnt a big goal tally guy. Sterling in a mediocre form netted 10+ league goals usually. closer to 20 in his best seasons.
For Grealish even 5 goals is a big season goal wise. hopefully he adds a lot to the assists, key passes, chance creation stats in return to compensate on that.