Jack Grealish has apologised to Miguel Almiron for insulting the Newcastle forward, and praised his response to the incident.
During Manchester City's title celebrations in the summer, Grealish was filmed saying that teammate Riyad Mahrez should have been replaced on the final day of the Premier League season vs Aston Villa as he 'played like Almiron.' The comment was picked up on social media and understandably did not go down well in Newcastle.
This season, Almiron has been in brilliant form, scoring eight goals so far, and Newcastle fans have repeated the phrase 'play like Almiron' to show their support for the Paraguayan. Recently, Almiron brushed off the comments and insisted he would shake Grealish's hand the next time they played.
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And now Grealish has spoken on the incident for the first time, showing remorse and revealing that he apologised to Almiron earlier this year.
“It was the day after the season finished and obviously I’d had a few drinks and stuff," Grealish said, praising the Newcastle star for his response on and off the field.
“Straight after that… because I didn’t realise, we were out celebrating and I wasn’t on my phone on social media. And then I remember I was in Ibiza and it had obviously come out.
“That was one thing I regret. When I said earlier that sometimes I do stupid stuff, that was one. I regret that. I swear, I’m actually buzzing the way he’s reacted.
“He said something about me in the interview the other day, he wished me the best. I thought ‘what a guy man’ because if that was me and somebody had said that about me, I’d have probably been the other way.
“I messaged Matt Targett because I’m close with him from Aston Villa and I said to him ‘can you message him for me and say to him that I apologise, I obviously didn’t mean it’. When I look back on that, that was just one thing that was stupid of me to say. I shouldn’t have said it.
"I didn’t realise it was a video to go out, I thought it was just private. But even in private I shouldn’t have said it because he’s a fellow professional. I’m actually buzzing for him, I’ve had a lot of stick off the Newcastle fans and rightly so. At the end of the day, they are backing their player which I fully understand. He seems like the most harmless, nice guy, so fair play. I’m buzzing for him.
“When I play against him, I’ll show him the most respect because that’s what he’s done in a situation where he probably didn’t have to. Fair play to him and I genuinely hope he does keep scoring, as long as those Newcastle fans stop messaging me.”
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