Former Manchester City and Manchester United players Micah Richards and Roy Keane have disagreed with each other regarding Jack Grealish's start to life at City following his move from Aston Villa last season.
The English playmaker made the move from Villa Park to the Etihad last summer in a deal that cost more than £100m. And he has certainly divided opinion following his first season in a City shirt.
Grealish made 26 Premier League appearances for Pep Guardiola's side last campaign, but only managed to score three goals and register three assists. Speaking to Sky Bet, pundits Micah Richards, Graeme Souness and Roy Keane had differing opinions regarding his performances on the pitch last season.
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Keane said: "Jack done an interview last week about how intense it was and he can’t believe how good the players are and Pep’s a genius and he’s making load of demands in him.
"But Jack should embrace that as if it was a bit of a shock to Jack. He has started a lot of games, it’s more his stats when he has, end product. That’s why they brought him to the club, what he could do goals and assists - it’s not been good enough."
Souness also thought that Grealish needed to improve massively in his second season, adding: "City have got some world class players. Maybe the best midfield player in the world but he doesn’t look like a boy where that would affect him. I’m looking at what he gives on a 90 minutes, I don’t see any improvement at all."
However, former City defender Richards came to Grealish's defence, insisting that it's not easy to hit the ground running at a new club. Richards said: "He’s used to playing in a team where it’s just all about him to a team where the structure is completely different. If he wasn’t £100m, we wouldn’t be having this conversation."
Keane responded: "It’s fine lines with Jack. We saw in the Real Madrid [Champions League semi-final] game, one or two chances.
"This will define a player, these moments can you put the ball in the back of the net, get your team into a final and that’s where Jack has come up just short but I certainly wouldn’t be writing him off yet."
Souness, though, was not convinced, he said: "I’m not sure. I think Jack is 26, 27 in September. Not 21, 27. This is the way I was educated ‘too many touches son, if you’re taking too many touches you’re not seeing the picture quick enough’ I think that will be Jack’s story.
"The most fouled player in the league for two consecutive years with Villa. That again is not a good sign for me, that means you’re taking too many touches. It’s a long hard graft of a season, if they got to European finals would he start?"
Keane did admit that Grealish had a bumpy start to life in Manchester and believes he can build on his first season at the Etihad to try and show Pep Guardiola why he should start for this City team. He said: "You would have thought so (he’d be better). We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, even though we were talking about his age, what is he 26. 27 now?
"You’re thinking he maybe should’ve gone to City and adapted quicker but sometimes it can be difficult.
"He’s gone in and not had a run of games and a few injuries early on in the season he would’ve been disappointed even with the last game being left out against his old club, Aston Villa, but they got over the line and you’d fully expect Jack to have adapted more to the demands of Man City and Pep.
"I think Pep certainly would’ve been intense with him and maybe Jack wasn’t used to that because we seen him left out of games for City this season and Gareth’s (Southgate) done the same with England so the penny has to drop with Jack,
"You want to be a really top player, you’ve got to maybe step up to the plate a bit more and the manager has to have a bit more trust in him."
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