Ilkay Gundogan believes that Jack Grealish deserves his success at Manchester City this season and is 'misunderstood' by some.
The outgoing City captain reserved praise for Grealish and his role in the Blues' treble-winning campaign, offering some levity in a serious title race, and also providing the quality that his teammates always knew he had.
Gundogan says that Grealish and summer signing Erling Haaland only made City stronger over the last two seasons, praising both for their work behind the scenes to become integral parts of the squad.
Writing in the Players Tribune after sealing his move to Barcelona, Gundogan made a point of singling out Grealish for his improvements in 2022/23.
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"Even when we were 10 points behind Arsenal, I knew we would win the league," he said. "We already had such a strong foundation for so many years with guys like Kevin [De Bruyne], Kyle [Walker], John [Stones], Phil [Foden], Bernardo [Silva] and Ederson, but then you add in characters like Erling and Jack, and it gave us another edge.
"I just want to say that Jack Grealish is so misunderstood by some of the media. He is one of the nicest guys I’ve met in football. He’s so much fun to be around and so humble and pure.
"I felt so happy for his success this season, because I know what it’s like to come to a big club for a lot of money, with all that pressure. He worked so hard to get to another level this season, and he was fantastic for us."
Speaking about Haaland, Gundogan said that the Norwegian surprised him with he rate of his goalscoring but also his desire to always improve and not rest on his record-breaking achievements.
"Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect when he came here," said Gundogan, predicting that the striker can be as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
""You see the goals and all the attention that he was getting at Dortmund, and you wonder if he’s going to fit with the group. But when I got to know him, I was so surprised how someone could be that talented and still have the will to be even better every single day.
"He’s never satisfied. I feel like there are no limits for him. Messi and Ronaldo are the only comparison for the level he could reach."
