When a top player signs for Manchester City, more often than not, it is justified to expect them to come good.
Being coached by Pep Guardiola while playing with some of the best players in the world should logically lead to an improvement in the player in question.
However, judging by how new signings have struggled to initially adapt at the Etihad Stadium, there is enough evidence to suggest that it is easier said than done to hit the ground running at City.
Bernardo Silva’s story as a Manchester City player is a prime example of said phenomenon.
Despite looking like one of the best wingers in the world during his final season at AS Monaco, the Portuguese international looked like a shadow of the player he was in Ligue 1 during his debut season for the Sky Blues.
However, in his second season, Bernardo was arguably City’s standout player alongside the likes of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Aymeric Laporte.
Jack Grealish has also had his fair share of struggles since leaving Aston Villa to sign for Manchester City and it seems like he still has plenty to prove to justify his £100 million price tag.
Grealish aims to prove his doubters wrong next season after being axed from England’s squad for the European Championship.
Jamie O’Hara makes fresh claim about Jack Grealish at Man City
At Aston Villa, the £300,000-a-week was regarded as one of the most exciting and best players in the Premier League; an opinion that might divide opinion amongst fans and pundits since his move to City.
In his first and third seasons at the club, Grealish has not had much of an influence on his team’s success.
After Manchester City’s 3-1 win against West Ham to seal their fourth successive Premier League title triumph, Grealish criticised his performances last season.
But Jamie O’Hara has raised a fresh observation about the 28-year-old.
On talkSPORT, O’Hara claimed that Grealish is no longer the maverick he once was at Aston Villa since signing for Manchester City in 2021.
“That’s what [Jack] Grealish was, wasn’t he? At Aston Villa, just play him anywhere and get him the ball and he’d just make things happen.”
“In Man City’s team, I think he’s a bit robotic now, isn’t he? It’s all about keeping the ball, moving it, come out, go the other side, come out, move it and get into areas. At Aston Villa, his game was, give it to Grealish and he’ll do something with it.”
Grealish can remain entertaining if he returns to his best
Unlike at Aston Villa, Grealish is far from being the protagonist at Manchester City.
As a result, the Englishman, like all of his teammates has to adhere to Pep Guardiola’s positional demands unlike when he was handed a free role under Dean Smith at Villa Park; however, as demonstrated by his second season at the club, he can still remain entertaining.
During Manchester City’s treble-winning season, Grealish was taking on his full-back, knitting attacks together with his incisive passing, picking the ball in deeper areas at times and being incredibly press-resistant and overall, being very impactful to his side’s displays.
Once he returns to his best, the England international will return to being an entertainer on the pitch, even if he is not as uninhibited a player as he was in a Villa shirt.
