At the age of 15, at his home in Solihull, on the outskirts of Birmingham, Jack Grealish watched a documentary about George Best. It marked him that the Manchester United legend had Irish origins, like himself, but above all that he was irreverent and challenged the rules in a tough football where flashes of class made any vice or extravagance forgivable.. That was exemplified in the socks lowered to the ankles, something that the boy who dreamed of standing out at Aston Villa wanted to copy. “It's something I've done all my life and I'll keep doing it.. Several referees have warned me that I should wear them on my knee, but I'm not going to do it.”. Grealish does few things because they have to be like that, but one of them will be to listen to everything that Guardiola asks him to leave the Bernabéu with one foot in the Champions League final.. He doesn't want to be humiliated like a year ago. Unlike then, his role is more of a protagonist today.
The winger, who came to City last season in exchange for 117 million euros, has a place in the coach's European eleven. He has played all the Champions League matches and understands the role he plays since Haaland is the reference in attack. He stretches the team, leans on Rodri and De Bruyne -another of his idols- and dribbles with the same confidence as a Brazilian looking for the Norwegian.
This is how he tells his good friend and Aston Villa captain, John McGinn. «I talk to Jack very often about what Pep brings him and how he understands football, and more now that I also have a Spanish coach like Emery. It is true that he has improved his game with the City style and he is having a lot of success since he feels more confident to get the class he has. I think that, although Madrid has players with a lot of experience in the Champions League, this time Manchester City is the favourite”, predicts the Scottish midfielder in conversation with El Mundo.
McGinn's friendship with Grealish helped him adapt to life in Birmingham and rubbed shoulders with The Avengers, the generation of young English players who maintain a relationship through WhatsApp and into which this Scotsman slipped. What he did not copy is the controversy that has always accompanied his friend.
From Chinese food to the pub
Not only for playing for Aston Villa does he get the nickname 'villain'. Again the reference to George Best. In 2015, with the team fighting to avoid relegation, he was discovered inhaling nitrogen oxide in a nightclub and even after a game against Everton he stayed in the city partying. He accumulated sanctions and provoked the ire of the then owner, the Chinese businessman Tony Xia, but the difficult sporting moment of the club led him to give him the reins in the Championship. and shone. With his ribbon in his hair, with an air of the first Beckham, he became the leader who would return them to the Premier. He swore that he would only leave Birmingham because of an irresistible proposal for him and the club, and that came to him in the summer of 2021. Impossible to say no to City, as it is also to contain yourself.
Again the memory of Best. Grealish confesses that he loves pubs that recall the 80s, he loves “going out to let his hair down” and is capable of ordering Chinese food, yes, gourmet and from the best place in Manchester, Wing's. He doesn't even listen to Haaland's recommendations. «He tells me, 'hey, don't go out tonight to party' and I tell him to shut up and go take his ice bath. He goes home and sits with his family and orders takeout. Sometimes that's my choice, but sometimes I like to go out and let my hair down.. I'm not going to sit here, lie and say I don't go out. I love chilling at the bar. That's why in summer I'm going to buy a wig…”, he confessed in a recent interview with Mail Sport.
His careful image as a 'bad boy' also gets a lot of revenue off the pitch. With six million followers on Instagram and the number 10 on his back, he is the image of Puma, Gucci and has signed contracts with brands such as Panini or EA Sport stickers or the Bosé sound brand.. Indomitable genius in the field and marketing outside.
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