Almiron becoming the player £100m Grealish wishes he was

FT Desk

• 23 Oct 2022 12:24 CDT
• 3 min read

Miguel Almiron scored his sixth goal in 12 games as Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday - numbers Jack Grealish can only dream of achieving at Manchester City.

Why does the comparison matter? Well, Grealish was seen to punch down during City's Premier League title celebrations at the end of last season after the champions completed a final-day comeback against Aston Villa - whom City had paid £100 million (€114.6m) the previous summer.

"There were two secrets," he said when asked by teammate Bernardo Silva what the keys to City's eventual 3-2 win were. "One, Riyad [Mahrez], take him off the pitch, as soon as possible. He played like Almiron!

"Number two, [pointing at Silva] he's been so good this season, get him off the pitch."

The latter point may soften how seriously Grealish meant to have his comments taken, but Almiron only mustered one goal for Newcastle last season - compared to Grealish's three - and it was an unwelcome slight for the Paraguayan.

Fast-forward five months and Almiron's form is putting Grealish's to shame. With his goal in Sunday's 2-1 win over Spurs, he moved onto six for the current campaign. They have been scored at a rate of one every 168 minutes he has played.

Grealish's return

Grealish has played one fewer game than Almiron in all competitions - 11 to the Newcastle man's 12 - and has scored just a single goal, in September's 3-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers. For Grealish, that's a return every 741 minutes for him in 2022/23.

“I don't think Miggy is motivated by anything other than trying to be his best for Newcastle and for the supporters, who absolutely love him and rightly so," Magpies manager Eddie Howe said recently.

"For me, he's given me everything from day one, very committed to the team. He's a real team player and he's getting the recognition that he deserves. You can't under-estimate the quality of the goals that he's delivered for us."

Grealish should reflect on whether he could say the same about his own game before the next time he takes aim at Almiron, or indeed anyone else.