Pep Guardiola has praised the extra work Jack Grealish is doing behind the scenes to help him continue to improve at Manchester City.
City paid £100m to sign Grealish from Aston Villa in the summer of 2021, but the England international drew widespread criticism for an underwhelming first season at the Etihad Stadium.
Grealish did a lot of the basics things Guardiola expected of him right, but his return of six direct goal contributions in 26 Premier League appearances left a lot of room for improvement.
This season started in a similarly slow fashion, but over the past few months Grealish has shown exactly why City were so desperate to sign him.
The 27-year-old has continued to work tirelessly off the ball, and has scored five goals and provided six assists in 24 league outings.
Grealish’s understanding of his role in the team is clear, and is a key reason why he has found himself in the starting XI more frequently this term.
Speaking ahead of City’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Sheffield United on Saturday, Guardiola spoke about Grealish’s improvement and explained why it took him a while to adapt to his new club.
What did Guardiola say?
“I’m impressed by how professional he is,” Guardiola said.
“Yesterday [Thursday] we arrived [back from Munich] at six, everybody [went] home, he was here, getting treatment, [using] the pool, preparing in case he [is needed] next Wednesday because he was not used to playing at Aston Villa three games every week for a long, long time.
“Of course, Aston Villa play but maybe for the FA Cup. Here he knows his body, his regeneration and we cannot forget that Jack came last season came from the previous season at Aston Villa with six or seven months of injury so he didn’t have the rhythm he has right now.
“These little details have a lot of influence – settling in with the club, the backroom staff, with the players, with the manager, with the way we want to play.
“Sometimes you need a little bit more time but always I think when your mind is there you can adapt quickly.”
Grealish will be hoping it’s third time lucky for him with City at Wembley, as he was on the losing side in both the 2021 Community Shield and the 2022 FA Cup semi-final clash with Liverpool.
