- Most expensive player in British football
- Every move dissected in minute detail
- Admits that he can offer more to Blues
WHAT HAPPENED? The England international forward became the most expensive player in British football when moving to the Etihad Stadium from Aston Villa in the summer of 2021. His debut campaign with the Blues did deliver a Premier League title, but only six goals and four assists as questions were asked of his value to the collective cause – with critics still taking aim at him in 2022-23 amid fierce competition for places in Pep Guardiola’s squad.
WHAT THEY SAID: Grealish has told BT Sport of operating under the brightest of spotlights: “Do you know what? I'm not really bothered about the price-tag, at the end of the day, that was my release clause, that's what Villa thought I was worth. Man City paid that for me, I've noticed in the past six months, especially, it's constantly [a talking point], if I was worth £20m, I think I could play games, not have a good game and people wouldn't say a thing. But because it's £100m, everyone talks about it, that side of it it's a bit annoying.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Grealish went on to point out that he has never been a prolific goal scorer, saying of those lumping unreasonable expectations on his shoulders: “I think in the future, it's something to look back on, being the first British £100m player but I need to start upping my game, performing and scoring goals, getting assists. But it's weird, people talk about me scoring goals, there's no better feeling in football but what's crazy is, I've never actually been - you know you have them types of wingers that constantly score - I've never actually been a type of winger that scores.”
IN THREE PHOTOS:
Getty ImagesNext Match
Getty Images
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR GREALISH? The 27-year-old playmaker has only found the target on one occasion this season, but he has been seeing more game time of late and will hope to figure prominently again when City take in a home date with Southampton on Saturday.