SUPER JACK-THE 100 MILLION POUND MAN
ROBERT J WILSON SAYS JACK GREALISH HAS ALL THE CREDENTIALS TO LIVE UP TO HIS INCREDIBLE PRICE TAG
ON ONE of the biggest days of Trevor Francis’ life, Brian Clough still found a way to upstage him. Francis was to be presented in front of the British media as the first million pound footballer in 1979 and Clough kept him and his agent waiting for over an hour.
When he eventually did turn up at the City Ground, he was carrying his squash racquet after playing an extended game with his current centre-forward Garry Birtles over at Trent Bridge.
Clough was the absolute master of psychology without possibly even knowing it at the time.
‘Old Big Head’ was making the point that whilst everyone was making a huge fuss about Nottingham Forest breaking the British transfer record to prise Francis away from Birmingham City, it was really no big deal.
Some would say it was Clough’s ego wanting the limelight again, but, rather cleverly, he was keeping Francis’ feet firmly grounded.
After Forest paid that momentous figure for a footballer, there was notable pressure on Francis to live up to the transfer fee. The England International embraced that pressure and duly scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup final against Malmo. That is how you silence the doubters. Injury kept Francis out of the final the following year as Forest retained the trophy with a 1-0 win over Hamburg, but he still managed to score 37 goals in 93 appearances before later moving on to Manchester City in 1981 for £1.2m. Not a bad return for that original outlay.
It took until 1988 for Paul Gascoigne to become Britain’s first £2m footballer to be traded between two English clubs after the Geordie famously chose Tottenham Hotspur over Manchester United when he left Newcastle United - mainly because the London club were willing to throw in a house, a BMW for his dad and a sunbed for his sister!
With the influx of the BSKYB deal in 1993, finances in football exploded and most of the money went straight out on transfer fees, increasing wages packets for the players and into the greedy pockets of agents. There was some serious money to be made out of football and it was no surprise when the transfer record was broken again and again.
In 1995, on the steps of St James’ Park, Kevin Keegan tried to explain to irate Newcastle United supporters why he was prepared to sell Andy Cole to rivals Manchester United for £7m plus Keith Gillespie.
An underachieving Liverpool broke the record soon after Cole’s surprise switch by attracting the sought-after Stan Collymore from Nottingham Forest for £8.5m.
Collymore is probably not given enough credit for the lethal partnership he formed with a young Robbie Fowler over the next two seasons but his move to Anfield is deemed a flop.
The transfer record was smashed after Euro 96 with Alan Shearer electing to join his boyhood club Newcastle United rather than possibly team up with Eric Cantona and Cole at Manchester United. Newcastle paid £15m to bring Shearer home and the floodgates really opened.
Rio Ferdinand joined Manchester United for £29.1m, Seba Veron for £28.1m and Wayne Rooney joined Sir Alex’s dominant force for £30m.
The Red Devils have continued to set the pace with Harry Maguire joining from Leicester City for £75m and Paul Pogba returning from Juventus for £89m in 2016. This summer, the England winger Jadon Sancho returned to the red side of Manchester for £79m from Germany.
After Sancho’s switch from Borussia Dortmund, his England team-mate Jack Grealish became the first British footballer to move for £100m.
The lifelong Aston Villa fan had to leave the club he had served for over 19 years to join Manchester City and pursue his desire to play in the Champions League and to ultimately win some major trophies. The time was right.
Grealish was a tremendously loyal servant to his boyhood club. It wasn’t that long ago that Tottenham were hesitant over the possibility of paying just £25m to take him when Villa had slipped out of the Premier League. Grealish remained at Villa Park and subsequently fired them back into the top flight in 2019.
His exceptional form over the last two seasons in the Premier League has propelled him to superstar status in the country. He deservedly established himself in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euros and was perhaps a touch unfortunate not to have played more minutes than he did.
He started just the one game, the final group encounter against the Czech Republic and suffered the discomfiture of being subbed as a substitute in the semi-final against Denmark.
The 25-year-old accepted the manager’s decision with great professionalism. There was no hissy fit or disgruntled face when he made his way back off at Wembley in extra-time. He spoke afterwards with great maturity about it being a necessary tactical decision. As a team player, he helped England reach their first ever European Championship final.
Grealish certainly became the darling of the England supporters, very much like Gazza did in the build-up to Italia 90.
It needed a dominant display against the Czechs in one of England’s final warm-up matches for Gazza to finally convince Bobby Robson to start him in the forthcoming World Cup finals.
Grealish is not quite at that level yet. Perhaps Southgate wants him to improve defensively where outstanding
full-backs can really hurt you with their athleticism on the international stage?
One thing is for sure, though - Grealish is not only entertaining on the ball but a fantastically courageous player. Everyone knows he is the most fouled player in the Premier League and that is because at Villa they used to get the ball to him and ask him to conjure up some magic.
At City, he will quickly learn how to play quicker, one and two touch and know when to take on an opponent with a greater rate of success. There will be a better intelligence to his game.
Pep worked with Messi, so it’s an exciting prospect to say the least and he is English!
‘Super Jack’ never shirks the opportunity to take possession and seeks to hurt the opposition. He is prepared to take defenders on, take the game by the scruff of the neck and try to make things happen.
British supporters rightly idolise players like that.
You only to have to think of Gazza and Chris Waddle, Georgie Best, Jimmy Johnstone, Jim Baxter, Gareth Bale and Ryan Giggs to appreciate what they mean to fans who can only dream of doing what those type of players could produce out on a football pitch.
They are playground players. The skilful ones you could never get the ball off at school.
Grealish is not in that company of legends just yet. He has got to go on and fulfil his ambitions with Manchester City and hopefully with England. He may be a £100m footballer but he has to produce the goods to hold down a regular place in both sides yet.
He is only going to improve by training and playing with better players every week with City. He will only learn great things from his visionary coach, Pep Guardiola, and hopefully the tag won’t weigh too heavily on him.
In fact, those that have gone for British transfer fees have usually lived up to the billing and become true legends of the game, but for every Greaves, Francis, Gazza and Robson, there is a Steve Daley.
Hopefully, Grealish’s Manchester City career will fare a lot better than his did.
I am positive it will because Grealish has all the credentials to become one of our great entertainers - and football is crying out for them.