How Grealish's value has HALVED in nightmare 2022
FT Desk
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 3 min read
Manchester City spent £100m (€118m) on Jack Grealish last summer. Four Premier League goals later and his value has plummeted.
Only five players have ever passed the £100 million transfer fee mark: Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Philippe Coutinho, Joao Felix, Antoine Griezmann and, since last summer, Grealish.
While the others in that club have had varying degrees of success - Neymar and Mbappe have banged in the goals for PSG; Coutinho and Griezmann underperformed at Barcelona - few have had such a dramatic drop-off in value as Grealish.
Is this the end for Grealish at the Etihad? https://t.co/GqsQulZeMR
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) September 20, 2022
City had been linked with a big-money move for Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane last summer with Sergio Aguero at the end of his Etihad career, but instead they spent that budget on Grealish.
The English champions instead waited on Erling Haaland, and have been proved right since his €60m arrival from Borussia Dortmund, the big Norwegian plundering his 11 Premier League goals at a rate of one every 52 minutes he has played.
Grealish may be a winger rather than a striker, but City might have been entitled to expect a more significant return from a player who was rated at €68m by Football Transfers' valuation on his arrival from Aston Villa.
His value rose to €88.7m by December but he has had a sharp decline since then.
Goals coming in dribs and drabs
The England international had six goals and four assists in 39 games in all competitions last season and finally got off the mark in the current campaign in his sixth game of the campaign, scoring the opener in the 3-0 win over Wolves.
"We didn't sign him for the incredible goals or assists at Aston Villa," City manager Pep Guardiola said in defence of his player last week.
"It was another reason and when he played he did it. I want [him] to make goals and assists and he does too. But it's not about that, it's about his contribution without the ball and what he can produce for the other ones."
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Grealish certainly has the dribbling ability to lift City fans from their seats, his average of 14 progressive carries per game since he arrived one stat he does stack up well on - better than 99 per cent of wingers in the division.
But goals and assists are a significant part of the currency for attacking players, and Grealish's performances mean he is now ranked at €35m - down more than 50% since the start of the year.
