Pep Guardiola can further unlock Jack Grealish with key Man City signing

One of the big talking points heading into the new season was how Jack Grealish might fare in his second year at Manchester City. On the evidence so far, the answer seems to be pretty well.

By and large, Grealish underwhelmed in his first campaign at the Etihad Stadium after his £100m move from Aston Villa. By the end of the season the 26-year-old was finding himself starting on the bench more than he was making the starting XI, while his goal output fell far short of his Villa returns.

In 26 league appearances last season, Grealish recorded just three goal and three assists for City, whereas in 2020/21 he scored six and assisted 10 in the same number of games for his hometown club. His shot-creating actions per 90 minutes fell by about one, while to the naked eye it was clear that he was not the same direct, destructive presence he was at Villa Park.

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That was partly down to him needing time to adapt to Pep Guardiola's systems and demands. The likes of Rodri, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva have shown that new signings can take at least a year to start performing at their best for City.

More significantly though, Guardiola was — and still is — asking Grealish to play a different role to what he did at his previous club. It's a role no less important, but it is less flashy and recognisable as deserving praise.

At Villa Grealish would cover vast swathes of the field, drifting deep to collect the ball before driving forward down the left flank and left half-space. He was the creative fulcrum of the team, the player his teammates would look to give the ball to more often that not.

At City he is not such a central figure, but rather