Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand believes people should wait until next season before they judge Jack Grealish's start to life at Manchester City.
Following a fine 2020/21 campaign with Aston Villa, City swooped to sign the England international during the summer transfer window, landing him in a record-breaking £100million deal.
Grealish, who will be hoping to be part of Gareth Southgate's England squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup later this year, however, has struggled to hit the heights since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, scoring just three goals and grabbing three assists in 22 appearances in all competitions, meaning his hefty-sized price tag is already attracting scrutiny.
But while the former Villa star has struggled to have the impact at City that he would have hoped for, Ferdinand has leapt to the versatile attacker's defence, insisting it is too early to judge whether or not he is fulfilling his £100million price tag, as well as detailing how difficult it is to adapt to a new-look system.
Ferdinand told Vibe with Five : "I think Jack Grealish would have wanted more from himself, but at the same time he is a new player and sometimes not all players hit the ground running when they come in.
"Yes, he is a £100m signing and everyone would want him to be doing that, but at the same time they're winning. When he is playing they are winning games.
"He would like to impact those games a lot more, I'm sure, and be more of a decisive player. But I think you have got to judge him more next season. I think the first season is always hard for players in new formations."
Considering Grealish is in competition with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez, who all know City's system better than him, for a place, it is easier to understand why the 26-year-old has not produced the goods so often, certainly in terms of his attacking output.
However, Ferdinand has pointed out how difficult it is to adapt to a Pep Guardiola system, as well as Grealish being tasked with adapting to a new role.
"I think Pep's teams could possibly be the hardest teams to go into, play and hit the ground running immediately, because there are so many different demands on players, especially his wingers," added the former United man.
"He tells them to stay wide and hang wide the whole time. Jack Grealish has never been asked to do that in his life. He is always on the move, on the ball, receiving the ball in different positions, popping up central, wide, behind the striker, in midfield and deep.
"He has never been told to be isolated and stay out there (wide). That is a new learning curve for him that he has had to adapt to."
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