Jack Grealish has worked out how to be a superstar cog in a ruthless machine

E ven as a Birmingham City fan I could not dislike Jack Grealish when he was at Aston Villa thanks to his attacking swagger. He has taken his talent to a different level at Manchester City, but you can still see the boundless confidence that was evident from day one.

It has taken time for Grealish to find his feet after his £100m move from his boyhood club in 2021. Last season, he was regularly neither in the starting lineup nor on the scoresheet, but that has changed and he will be expected to cause problems for Leicester on Saturday. It takes time to settle into any new job and when your manager is Pep Guardiola, who has some of the most intricate tactics in the world, it is even less straightforward.

Few City signings hit the ground running. Raheem Sterling did not reach double figures for Premier League goals until his third season, Rodri took time to adapt to the pace of English football and Riyad Mahrez was far from a regular early on. All three, however, can be classified as successful buys.

Grealish has admitted it was a lot harder than he anticipated to learn the ways of Guardiola’s City. He had spent his whole career at Villa, coming through the academy and captaining a first team that revolved around him. The idea at Villa was to get the ball to Grealish and for him to create something. At City, he is another superstar cog in a ruthless machine. He had to work out how he fitted in and the rest of the team needed to learn his strengths and style of play.

Grealish is keeping Phil Foden, a phenomenal player, out of the City and England teams, which is a strong indicator of how he is doing. He has added more goals and assists this season and is at home at City. He looks stronger and his decision-making has