Jack Grealish opens up on 'difficult' Aston Villa transfer as Man City star responds to Pep Guardiola warning

Former Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish admits he has found adapting to life at Manchester City "more difficult" than he first envisaged.

Grealish joined City for a Premier League record transfer fee of £100million last summer and has taken some time to find his feet at the champions. He has made 19 league appearances for City so far this season, but has only scored two goals in routs over Norwich City and Leeds United.

His boss Pep Guardiola claimed back in November that he wanted to see more consistency in Grealish's game. When asked if it would take until next season for Grealish to produce his best on the eve of City's trip to Villa Park a few months ago, Guardiola replied: "He’ll be in trouble [if so] - we want to see it now. I would say he’s settled perfectly, he knows many English players, and the other guys are nice people.

"He’s not a problem, he plays good, but has to find a bit of time, if you analyse the games, he’s not played bad. With the quality he has, it’s difficult to play badly. Playing every three days, it's different for him, but he did it incredibly well. What he did at Villa was amazing, helping them get up and stay there."

Since Guardiola's warning, Grealish has struggled with injury issues, but is now beginning to catch the eye under the Spaniard. Grealish has started all three of City's games since returning from a shin problem, including the FA Cup quarter final clash against Southampton last time out.

Villa's former talisman looked sharp against Manchester United and Crystal Palace in recent weeks, while he and City aim to win the treble this campaign. Speaking of how he has settled at the Etihad, Grealish said: "I was at Villa for 16 years, I absolutely loved my time there and then