Jack Grealish…. Manchester City’s most expensive signing and England’s record breaking transfer holder so far. I almost forgot- one of the most iconic products of the Villa Park.
You expect a player worth £100m to be the showbiz of every match; bag over 20 goals and a measurable number of assists in his debut season. In fact, for a heavily scoring side like Manchester City, we should raise the bar to at least 50 direct goal contributions.
Has that been the case however? Certainly not. What’s six goal involvements compared to fifty? What went wrong and where? What’s the way forward? Has the glittering star been totally eclipsed by the Manchester blue moon already?
While all these questions and concerns can only be answered by the ‘Ex-Villain’, more questions and doubts are birthed after every counterproductive performance he puts up.
Most of the assumptions have centered around Jack’s slow adaptation to an ever evolving Guardiola team. It’s certainly not easy to transition from being the fulcrum at Dean Smith’s side to being only but moving part of a complex machine, with every part equal in function.
Grealish is however known to be a social ‘live wire’ off the pitch. He possesses in excess the warm and receptive qualities that Pep Guardiola desires in the dressing room of his side. It is no mystery that Grealish was one of the first to bond with Erling Haaland after his recent arrival at City. And of course, dating British dazzling model Sasha Attwood, tells you a lot about this fella. He’s a small guy doing big things.
Fans are still glued to their seats, patiently waiting to see how the English man will translate his off-the-pitch optimism into impressive stats in his sophomore season.
Although it took Grealish’s new pal Erling Haaland just a PL debut to validate his own £51m value, Grealish is further reminding us that beauty takes time. His story is a subtle reminder that often times, growth is slow and progressive.
Well…. all we have to do is sit back, relax and watch this caterpillar turn into a butterfly.