Jack Grealish, the strangest £100 million ever spent
Stuart Telford
- 10 Sep 2022 04:40 CDT
- 3 min read
Jack Grealish turns 27 today. A year on from joining Manchester City from Aston Villa for £100m/€115m, Football Transfers reflects on how well spent that money was.
Grealish is a talented player, no doubt, his combination of strength and skill making him a delight to watch.
With 13 progressive carries per game over the last year, as well as an average of eight touches per 90 minutes in the attacking penalty area, the winger is in the 99th percentile among players in his position by those measures Premier League-wide.
Jack Grealish has finally scored a goal.
Wait, there’s another Jack Grealish? 😂 https://t.co/c10D88zcB2— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) June 18, 2022
Villa were sad to lose him.
"Jack wanted to be certain that if at any point a Champions League club came in for him and Aston Villa was not in that competition, that we would not stand in his way," Villa CEO Christian Purslow explained last summer.
"For that reason, we agreed to incorporate a so-called release clause into his contract. Our board set this clause at a value of £100 million, knowing that would be, by some way, a record price for a British footballer and also a record fee for any player bought by a Premier League club."
A goal involvement every three-and-a-half games
But Grealish's attacking returns since City met that valuation have been underwhelming. He had three goals and three assists in the Premier League last season - coming in it a turgid rate of one every 319 minutes - and he is yet to get off the mark this term.
Style over substance might be forgivable for a bright-eyed 17-year-old breaking through, but Grealish turns 27 today - 10 September 2022 - and he only has 18 goals and 22 assists in total in England's top flight.
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His decision-making still lets him down, and even though Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were sold this summer - to Chelsea and Arsenal respectively - Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Riyadh Mahrez are all now being used more than Grealish in his position by Pep Guardiola.
"Jack's had a few injury problems, probably been criticised a little bit for his off-field stuff," reflected Roy Keane recently. "But I think what Jack has to do is grow up and get the trust of Pep."
A £100m fee is a lot of money for any player, but for one who still has something to prove at 27, it is unimaginable.
