Jack Grealish has been hailed as an “exceptional player” for Manchester City but told he requires improvement on one aspect of his game to reach the next level.
The England star has been largely played on the left wing by Pep Guardiola, which is a change from the attacking midfield role he was largely accustomed to at Aston Villa. The £100m man has started 31 matches this term and has often finished the 90 minutes in many of those fixtures.
However, he is set to come away with only six goals and four assists to his name (unless he adds to them against his former club in the league's final game), figures some may feel are slightly underwhelming given his summer price tag. Nevertheless, it is known for Guardiola’s recruits to take a season to ‘bed-in’ before truly excelling in the following campaign.
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Actually, Grealish has already shown such signs, grabbing a goal and an assist in his past two starts. While recognising he has put in a number of classy performances throughout the campaign, former City midfielder Steve McManaman believes the 26-year-old needs to work on his finishing in order to become a hero in Sky Blue, pointing to the Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
Speaking to horseracing.net, he said: “I don’t think he’s necessarily performed badly, I just believe he needs to practice on his finishing. I remember when they played away at Watford in December and he should have scored a couple.
"If he would have taken those chances then he would have been man of the match. He was great when he came on in the second leg against Real Madrid, but he missed a chance that was cleared off the line, so if that went in he would have been the hero.”
However, McManaman admitted that Grealish is not too far from taking his game to an elite level, and tipped him to progress well now his debut season is out of the way. He added: “I don’t think he has too much to work on going into his second season. I watched him against West Ham and I thought he was exceptional.
“It could be a case of first year syndrome when you don’t get to play as much as you wanted to, you’re playing with better players so you’re no longer the shining light as he was at Aston Villa, so I just think he needs to settle in and work hard. He will be fine as I think he’s an exceptional player.”
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