Jack the lad has grown up since his City switch
Jack Grealish has grown up under Pep Guardiola – and Eng land bos s Gar e th Southgate likes what he sees.
Manchester City’s £100m man marked his debut season at the Etihad by lifting the Premier League title last weekend – and his joy at that was there for all to witness.
Grealish appeared as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he justified that nine-figure price tag by playing his part in the club’s fourth crown in the past five seasons.
The 26-year-old spoke of his ambition afterwards, saying that “next season I can really pick up”, as he admitted Guardiola’s demands had pushed him onwards.
And Three Lions’ chief Southgate reckons the Catalan coach’s approach to Grealish was similar to his own.
Southgate said : “I ’ ve discussed Jack’s season with him through the year. He spoke really interestingly after the last game of the season and highlighted how he saw it and the issues he found.
“I think that was apparent to everybody – Jack had to adapt to a totally different way of playing, he had to adapt to different expectations where you have to win every week and a club where there is that competition for places.
“He’s had to adapt as well to being in a dressing room where there are great players all around you.
“There is a psychological part to that for anyone.
“But he’s humble. He might be confident enough to take the ball but he’s got humility. And he might not appreciate yet what could be possible.
“We were ver y happy with his mental ity and performance in March and we liked the way he went about training that week.
“What we saw was a player who was hungry and wanted to do well. He’s won the title now so I’m sure he will feel a little calmer.”
Grealish’s raw statistics made for indifferent reading. Just three goals and three assists is scant reward for the most expensive English player.
But Southgate said: “Jack has learned a lot. Without a doubt, tactically, he has improved without the ball.”