Jack Grealish hints at bigger Man City role after two transfer exits

Jack Grealish could be forgiven for thinking he was back at the Wanda Metropolitano when Manchester City took on Atletico Madrid in Seoul.

It may have been a friendly on paper but the Spanish club played with their usual ferocity and aggression, pushing the boundaries of acceptability within the rules of the game that kept the referee busy with fouls and yellow cards. It wasn't quite the scenes from the Champions League quarter-final a few years ago when Grealish was in the middle of an almighty scrap, but there was enough of an edge.

Grealish still attracts challenges and fouls like no other Blue when he has the ball in possession, and still enjoys a scrap more than most, yet plenty more has changed in the time since the last meeting. The former Villa man is no longer a peripheral figure looking to show why his £100m cost is justified and instead a valued member of Pep Guardiola's Treble-winning team whose performances over many months meant his price tag does not often get spoken about anymore.

As he prepares for his third season at the Etihad, City are perhaps more reliant than ever on Grealish. Given that Riyad Mahrez has departed and there is no outstanding candidate to replace his skillset, the play in the Atletico friendly on Sunday shifted significantly over to the left to mean Grealish saw more of the ball than he normally would.

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Whoever does play in the team instead of Mahrez will obviously have responsibility, although if it is a work in progress there is every chance that more is placed on Grealish to help carry the attack through while everyone works it out. There are few better players for controlling the tempo.

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