Graeme Souness has revealed he isn’t the ‘biggest fan’ of one key Manchester City star.
City’s 11-game winning streak was brought to an end on Saturday when they could only salvage a late draw with Chelsea thanks to Rodri’s equaliser.
Despite the setback, Pep Guardiola’s side are still going strong in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup and could win back-to-back trebles.
One player who was pivotal to last season’s triumph was Jack Grealish, yet, Souness doesn’t think he has improved since making the switch to the Etihad Stadium.
Graeme Souness doesn’t think Jack Grealish has improved
Speaking to Simon Jordan on TalkSports’ Simon & Souness show, Souness said: “I can’t say I’m his biggest fan, no.”
Jordan then asked: ‘Even under Pep?’ to which Souness continued: “No. I don’t see any changes.
“I think his stats might be worse at City than they were at Villa. Maybe in terms of dropping back, more enthusiasm to do the hard yards, that’s the yards going back to your own goal, you’re not buying that type of player because he defends really well for you.
“The priority for someone like that when you spend in excess of £100m is going to be the difference in the big games.
“Is going to be scoring lots of goals. Is going to be creating lots of goals. None of that’s happened.
“Yeah, he’s won some big trophies but I’d argue he’s in a very good team. He has become more defensively aware.
“I think, he’s at Aston Villa, not a great team so he has most of the ball he’s the one that’s creating, scoring, the go-to man in many ways.
“Then you get your big move to a top team and I don’t see him having improved much, if anything at all. His numbers wouldn’t suggest that I think I’m right in saying. He flatters to deceive.”
Jack Grealish clearly has improved
You can say Jack Grealish has changed as a player. You can even say you don’t like the player Jack Grealish has become.
You might think he’s lost something. That spark of ingenuity that made him so fun to watch at Aston Villa. That’s all fair enough.
But to say Grealish hasn’t improved is approaching utter lunacy. His game has come on tenfold and he is extremely important to the side.
Unlike Jeremy Doku, who has been given free rein to play how he likes since joining City, Grealish has been trained and moulded into Guardiola’s image since his switch in 2021.
At the time, Guardiola didn’t need a player to do flicks and tricks and mazy runs, he needed one to retain possession, keep the ball moving and help his side control games.
You couldn’t have hoped for a clearer example of what the £300k-a-week man does in the team than last week’s Champions League win against FC Copenhagen.
City were utterly dominant for the first 20 minutes, and the Danes couldn’t get a kick. When Grealish went off with an injury, Copenhagen suddenly got a foothold in the game and equalised.
Grealish has certainly improved under Guardiola and City could now suffer while he’s out.
