'What does anyone see in him? - how Grealish silenced critics

 

Nathan Harmston was sitting at home late on the evening of 9 May when his mobile phone pinged.

A couple of hours earlier, Nathan had been watching on television as Manchester City played Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. Now, he was receiving a video message from Jack Grealish.

The message, recorded soon after the 1-1 first leg draw in Spain, was for Nathan's father, Rob, a lifelong City supporter, who was in the intensive care unit at Leighton Hospital, in Crewe.

"Hi Rob, I've heard you're not doing too well at the moment so I just want to send all my love and support," said Grealish, still dressed in his kit with the Bernabeu Stadium in the background.

One moment he was setting up chances for Erling Haaland, the next he was sending get well messages to supporters. It is not hard to see why the England midfielder is cherished by City's fanbase - and not just because he is maturing into an outstanding all-round player with exceptional decision-making skills.

Grealish still has that slightly cheeky persona that Aston Villa fans fell in love with yet he has shown the drive to be a key component in Manchester City's chase for a remarkable Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup Treble. He has done it all with a smile on his face.

His time at City has not always been fun, however, as Grealish acknowledged in January when he said that leaving hometown club Villa in August 2021 and adapting to Pep Guardiola's style of play had been "much more difficult" than he imagined.

Yet the former Solihull schoolboy finds himself on the cusp of greatness at City, who are two wins from becoming only the second English team to win the Treble, after Manchester United in 1998-99.

Has Grealish made himself undroppable?

It was only last September that former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness told Talksport that Manchester City's £100m signing was "a good player, not a great player".

Even celebrity City fan Noel Gallagher was unconvinced by Grealish at first.

"I'll be the first to admit, I was at the first Premier League game he played for us, away to Tottenham," the former Oasis star told BBC Sport.

"I was thinking: 'Really? Do we need another midfielder on top of Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and everyone else?' And then that first season, I was like: 'I don't know what anyone sees in this guy at all.'"

Since returning from the World Cup, however, Grealish has become almost undroppable for the big games.

Before last Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Brentford, Guardiola's side were unbeaten in 25 matches in all competitions. Grealish started in 19 of them.

The six he was left out include the FA Cup ties against Bristol City and Burnley, two Premier League games around the Real Madrid semi-final, the win over Chelsea on 21 May after City's fifth Premier League title in six seasons had been confirmed, and the 1-1 draw at Brighton three days later.

His statistics show why he has become as important for Guardiola as midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, who finished with more assists than anyone else in the Premier League in 2022-23, or record-breaking forward Haaland.

Grealish has created 35 chances in this season's Champions League alone, with the final against Inter Milan still to come in Istanbul on 10 June. That's the most on record by an English player in a single season.

Yet his influence goes beyond statistics. Grealish is so strong, he is difficult to knock off the ball and helps City control the game in a role that is as important as providing assists and scoring goals.

He has led the way in terms of wingers with the best passing accuracy on the Premier League stage, while his ball retention stats are also the best for his position.

"When I came here [Manchester City], I'll be honest with you, it was so much more difficult than I thought," Grealish said in January.

"In my head, I thought I was going to the team sitting top of the league and I was going to get so many goals and assists and obviously it isn't the case. A lot of teams tend to sit in against us and that wasn't the case at Villa.

"I didn't realise how hard it is to adapt to a different team and manager.

"The main thing now is I feel loved. I feel the manager really trusts me."

'I do stupid stuff'

Grealish has had the odd lapse in discipline since joining City and was dropped along with Foden in December 2021 after the pair were pictured in a nightclub.

He also jokingly criticised Mahrez when he likened one of his team-mate's displays to that of Newcastle's Miguel Almiron.

"I do stupid stuff, that was one," Gealish said in December of the incident.

On the pitch, another example of Grealish's influence has been his successful partnership with Nathan Ake down the left, which has worked well during City's chase for trophies.

"The hardest thing for a centre-back playing at full-back is when he has to be out wide, on the line," Michael Brown, the former City midfielder, told BBC Sport.

"But when Ake is out wide, he doesn't have to do anything crazy and try to overlap because he has got Grealish in front of him. He can say to Jack: 'You just go and do what you do, I will just feed you from behind.'"

Grealish has worked hard to win Guardiola's trust, according to BBC Sport's football expert Chris Sutton.

"He got plenty of minutes last season but it didn't feel like he was first choice; he probably felt like he was on the periphery of things," said Sutton.

"This season, that's all changed. If you look through this season and talk about who the big players have been for City, then Jack Grealish comes into that bracket."

'Dad was close to tears'

Rob, the fan who received the personalised video message from Grealish, is now out of the intensive care unit and making a good recovery.

"He was very emotional and almost on the verge of tears," said Nathan on his dad's reaction to the message.

Nathan, who has attended more than 500 City matches since 2005, believes Grealish's value to the team is much more than just goals and assists.

"Before the World Cup, he was a bit hit and miss. He looked scared to make mistakes," he added.

"But he has come on leaps and bounds. He controls the game the way Pep wants. He looks like he is enjoying his football."    BY THE STAR