Jack Grealish pokes fun at James Maddison as snubbed England hopeful posts holiday photos

Manchester City and England winger Jack Grealish poked fun at pal and Leicester City midfielder James Maddison after photos of him on his summer break have emerged.

Despite a strong 2021/22 campaign with the Foxes, Maddison missed out on a call-up to the England squad for this month’s UEFA Nations League ties with Hungary, Germany and Italy, giving him a few extra weeks rest ahead of next season.

Maddison is currently on holiday and on an Instagram post, has shared pictures of himself watching matching cargo shorts and a utility vest, as well as wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap while in his off-season break.

That led to Grealish taking the mick out of the midfielder, suggesting he looks like Australian icon, TV presenter and zookeeper Steve Irwin, who died in 2006 at the age of 44.

In the comments section of the Instagram post, Grealish commented “Naaaaa man said Steve Irwin,” followed by a series of laughing and cry-laughing emojis, with the comment itself getting over 4,000 likes on social media.

Grealish was not the only footballer to poke fun at Maddison, with his former Coventry City teammate and now Kilmarnock defender Chris Stokes also following Grealish’s lead. He commented “Steve Irwin vibes yeh,” followed by an emoji of a crocodile and a picture of the Australian flag.

Maddison scored 12 goals and added eight assists in the Premier League in his 35 top-flight outings last term, a return rate of goals and assists that was much higher than Grealish in his debut season at Man City, averaging a goal or assist every 123.4 minutes he played in.

Grealish meanwhile only had three goals to his number and the same number of assists in his 26 league outings, averaging a goal or assist in the Premier League