‘I’m a big confidence player’ – Jack Grealish reveals how Pep Guardiola made him feel loved at Man City

• Grealish feeling the love from Guardiola
• Started important matches after the World Cup
• Midfielder admits to being ‘big confidence player’

WHAT HAPPENED? Grealish had a difficult start to life at Manchester City after joining the club for £100 million in the summer of 2021. It was only after coming back from the 2022 Qatar World Cup, that Pep Guardiola started using Grealish regularly in matches and he eventually went on to play a crucial role in the club’s treble win.

The Engand international has now revealed that Guardiola made him feel “loved” at the club last season by regularly playing him in important matches which boosted his confidence massively.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking on Manchester City’s podcast, Grealish said, “I’m a big confidence player, I want to feel loved. I came back from the World Cup and my first game was against Leeds and I should have scored at least two goals in the first half and at half-time, I was dwelling on that. But in the second half, I made two assists for Erling. A week later, I was on the bench at Chelsea, as me and Riyad [Mahrez] came on at the same time and I got another assist for his goal. After that, I just seemed to get some more goal involvement.

“I felt I was playing well in myself, too, and the manager was picking me in the big games like for Arsenal in the FA Cup and Arsenal in the Premier League, Tottenham and so on. I was feeling the love of Pep – not because he’d said so, but because he was playing me in all those big games. ‘It’s okay the manager going; ‘You’re so important to the team, Jack’ – then not picking you. Then you’d think; ‘Yeah, you’re just saying that’. Pep didn’t say anything at all, but he picked me for the big games, and that said everything.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The 28-year-old winger appeared in 50 matches for the Cityzens last season in all competitions where he managed to score five goals and provided 11 assists. Grealish is currently out injured with a thigh problem.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? City will aim to extend their winning streak to six matches in the Premier League when they next face Nottingham Forest on Saturday.