Jack Grealish: ‘I’m just a normal kid. I know how professional I actually am’

It is easy to see why Jack Grealish calls himself a normal kid. The Manchester City winger knows that he attracts a lot of attention, some of it good, some bad, but there was no sign of any ego while he held court with the media at St George’s Park this week.

“People have so much to say, whether that be on social media or pundits and stuff like that,” Grealish says as he considers whether he has had to develop a thick skin in recent years.

“It is the biggest sport in the world and everyone wants to talk about it, so you just have to go with the flow.”

Go with the flow: it is what people want from Grealish when he steps on the pitch. Few players are as fun and there is bound to be plenty of pressure on Gareth Southgate to make the former Aston Villa captain a key part of England’s attack at the World Cup.

For all the buzz around Grealish there are people ready to question whether he merits a place in the side. This is a crucial period for the 27-year-old forward. He was a free spirit at Villa, but from the outside there is a sense that some of the joy has been stripped from his game since he joined City for £100m last year.

“At Villa I was more free,” Grealish says. “At City, there’s more structure. It was obviously going to change my game a bit.”

Grealish is quick to stress he has a good relationship with Pep Guardiola, saying that he has never seen anyone with a better understanding of football than City’s manager. Yet he knows there is room for improvement. His first year at City was not easy, even though he ended it as a league champion, and he was relieved to score his first goal of this season in the 3-0 win at Wolves last Saturday.

Will that close-range finish from Kevin De Bruyne’s cross mark a turning point?