If you asked Jack Grealish to choose the highlight of his career so far, he wouldn’t be short of options.
Manchester City won the Champions League in 2023 as part of a historic treble and the first time they won the European Cup. Maybe he’ll choose that. It’s hard to argue.
In October 2021, Grealish scored his first goal for the England team. His second appearance comes 13 months later at the 2022 World Cup. Maybe he’ll choose that. He was very proud and protective of his international career.
Manchester City’s Jack Grealish: The complex career dynamics of a flawed superstar
As is often the case with Grealish, things may not be that simple. Aston Villa captain before his record-breaking £100m move to Manchester City in 2021, he has supported the club his entire life and his performances on the pitch represent success of a different kind.
Grealish is one of those players that most clubs acquire from time to time, precocious young talents who thrill supporters before even joining the first team.
He delivered on all his promises. What’s more, he did it during a difficult period for the club and, along with his supporter and manager Dean Smith, pushed Villa back into the top flight.
If you had asked Grealish four years ago to choose the highlight of his career to date, the answer would have been simple.
In May 2019, Grealish led Villa to the Championship play-off final at Wembley as captain. They beat Derby County 2-1 to advance to the Premier League, and Grealish, wearing tattered boots, became the man of the hour.
A trophy for the play-off winner is not to everyone’s taste. Villa finished fifth in the Second Division that season, which wasn’t really a guarantee of trophies.
But watching Grealish hoist the trophy to end Villa’s three-year run in the Championship means the world to those fans who followed the team in English football’s most lucrative competition a year after that defeat.
It was the end of something special and the beginning of an unknown and exciting future. Grealish is the player who links the two.
Maybe, just maybe, he would choose that.
Grealish’s importance to Villa’s culture and on the pitch is often overlooked. The wider footballing public knows his qualities as a player primarily through City’s tactical approach under Guardiola, but the Villa version is more than just some raw talent waiting to be exploited.
Grealish at Villa is a different animal. The team was so centered around him that it was difficult for subsequent managers to wean themselves off him after his £100m move to the Etihad.
Everyone knows this. The less common perception is that Grealish was so good and unique at Villa that there was no other way to manage him or a team with him in his presence.
Grealish guided Villa into the Premier League and made huge strides in the 2020/21 season, which included a win against 99th-placed Liverpool four four twoHis price tag has risen as he has been included in lists of the greatest individual performances of all time and Villa supporters have included him in serious discussions about their best ever player.
Paul McGrath. Brian Little. Gordon Cowens. Jack Grealish. It’s an unshakable admiration.
Villa’s Grealish excelled when he was unfettered, unfettered but trophy-less and ambitious. When his huge release clause was activated, he moved to Manchester City and the medals he received fully vindicated his decision.
But trophies and titles are only part of the story. Grealish and Guardiola’s goals have always seemed at odds with each other for much of the 29-year-old’s time at Manchester City, with mutual admiration evident but not always strong enough to mask occasional frustrations.
There is a feeling among Villa supporters that their captain is not the player Guardiola really needs or wants him to be. He can, and always has, but when he becomes that player, he is not the full Grealish.
To his credit, he has evolved and adapted to become a capable player at the highest level, but those supporters who saw him at his best in a Villa shirt now see a player limited by his work rather than being built around His style twists and shapes work and extraordinary ability.
Grealish is wild. He dribbles the ball better than anyone he faced at Villa, with a perfect blend of speed and power. He gets past players like they’re not there and protects the ball in any way when there’s nowhere to go. His touch was flawless. His goals were sensational.
He may never be the same Grealish again, and only he can weigh the pros and cons of exchanging that delightful hubris for tangible success.
Either way, his days at Manchester City are numbered. Guardiola’s patience seems to be wearing thin and he is falling out of favor.
The final results he unleashed at Villa have faded, with him making just 16 starts in the Premier League since the start of last season.
With Guardiola and Manchester City looking to use the January transfer window to revive their season, Grealish will be allowed to leave if given the chance. His contract runs until the summer of 2027, so he’s in prime sales territory right now. From City’s perspective, the best-case scenario right now is to offload an unwanted player who still has some value left in his contract.
Grealish has one big move left. His wage demands will limit his options, but for supporters and football lovers away from Manchester City, the purest hope is for the former Villa man to find a club where he can regain some of what made him special Stuff, enough to cost him £100 million in the first place.
