Jack Grealish mentality shift shows he is becoming Pep Guardiola's perfect Man City attacker

After an impressive performance that saw him assist the second of England's three goals against Ivory Coast on Tuesday, Manchester City's Jack Grealish was understandably chipper in his post-match interview.

"I've spoken to Pep Guardiola," Grealish told Sky Sports. "He's shown me every other stat in the world that you would be happy with apart from goals and assists. He's the only person I need to impress but if you're a forward you want to get goals and assists so hopefully in the business end of the season I can get them."

His recent comments stand in stark contrast to those he has made previously this season, where he has tended to agree with the general consensus that his first season at City is not going according to plan.

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Grealish has received widespread criticism this season from City fans, pundits and supporters of other clubs, largely because his return of two goals and two assists in the Premier League this season is not deemed good enough for a man that cost £100m last summer. Arguably, he himself has been his biggest critic.

"I've found it a lot more difficult than I thought I would," he told the Daily Telegraph in November. "At first I thought I’d have more of the ball, get more assists and goals but it doesn’t work like that at all."

Contrast that to now though, and it appears that Grealish is finally starting to understand the bigger picture that Guardiola has been trying to explain for months. In fact, in many ways, he is developing into the perfect Guardiola winger.

From a statistical point of view, it's clear that Grealish's game has changed. He is doing less of the direct, exciting