Jack Grealish primed to shine after conquering first-season nerves

Erling Haaland was joking with Jack Grealish a couple of weeks ago that the spotlight will still be fixed firmly on England’s first £100 million footballer next season given that he cost twice as much as Manchester City paid to land the Norway striker this summer.

“I’m only half the price of you so I haven’t got the pressure,” Haaland quipped, although if the scrutiny that surrounded his performance in the Community Shield against Liverpool last weekend was anything to go by, City’s new No9 knows full well that there will be no hiding place.

Grealish, of course, is well placed to understand the attention that is coming Haaland’s way after a modest debut season with City last term in the wake of that record breaking move from Aston Villa that has raised the stakes this time around.

But it may be no bad thing that so many eyes are now being drawn towards Haaland as Grealish hopes for lift-off during his second season with the Premier League champions and the looming World Cup finals with England.

With those tree-trunk calves, movie-star good looks and boyish charm, Grealish is never going to blend into the background but it easy to understand why scrutiny of his private life grates at times.

The tabloid narrative made it look like Grealish’s summer was one long party but, while there was some much needed downtime in Ibiza and Las Vegas with friends after a gruelling past 12 months for club and country, seldom mentioned was the boot camp he put himself through on holiday in the Greek islands with girlfriend Sasha Attwood.

Fitness sessions, intense ball work and punishing beach runs amounted to what one source described as a “mini pre-season on his own” and the benefits were clear to see on City’s pre-season tour of the US