After years of scintillating football under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have actually been quite dull to watch this season.
The recent stalemate in the Manchester derby saw the Citizens name a midfield trio with a combined age of 97 as Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva took to the field, with things going a bit stale at the Etihad Stadium.
As a result, Manchester City need someone who can muster up something special out of nothing, a maverick who takes games by the scruff of the neck.
Jack Grealish was exactly that during his time at Aston Villa – where he was made captain and did what he pleased – so fans will naturally look to the England international for inspiration, although Gary Neville has now shared a damning assessment of the attacking midfielder.
Gary Neville calls Jack Grealish “predictable”
Speaking on The Overlap US, the 50-year-old claimed that even Ederson and those in the backline appear to be more attack-minded than the Manchester City No.10 right now.
Neville said: “Honestly, the defenders and the goalkeeper play more forward and more expressive passes than Jack Grealish now. Grealish is a fantastic player, a talent who can play with spontaneity and off the cuff. That has completely gone from his game, he’s become very predictable.”
The England international is averaging just 1.3 key passes per game in the Premier League this season – according to WhoScored – and only makes 0.3 direct through balls every 90 minutes, suggesting he has become far too conservative with his passing.
Grealish – who Shay Given thinks has fallen out with Guardiola – also has just three goals and five assists in 29 appearances, which is not good enough for a £100m player of his immense talent.
How much Manchester City could lose on Jack Grealish
Grealish is up for sale at Manchester City this summer as Hugo Viana attempts to put his stamp on the squad, and the Citizens look set to make a substantial loss on the man from Birmingham.
TV Play in Italy state that AC Milan could sign Grealish in a £33m deal – which would represent a stunning £67m loss on the initial £100m Manchester City spent to sign him from Aston Villa in August 2021.
If Viana fails to sell the 29-year-old this summer, Manchester City could end up having to accept even less than £33m for him in the summer of 2026, as he will only have 12 months remaining on his contract by that stage, and will have also entered his thirties.
