Why Man City’s Pep Guardiola opted for £100m Jack Grealish transfer over Harry Kane and Lionel Messi
AS a compliment from your new boss, it wasn’t a bad one for Jack Grealish.
When Pep Guardiola was asked about the possibility of signing the ultimate No 10 — Lionel Messi — the Manchester City boss replied that his club had just filled that shirt number with Grealish.
Hours later Tottenham’s own No 10 Harry Kane was sounding worried about his chances of forcing through a move to the Etihad.
So Grealish could turn out to be the champion’s only major signing when the Premier League season kicks off next weekend.
But Guardiola suggested that his £100million record buy would play in every major match and become a mainstay of City’s team for six or seven years.
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The Etihad boss said he fell in love at first sight when he watched Grealish on television.
And he praised his new signing’s ball-playing skills, his ability to control the tempo of matches, his physicality, his fighting qualities, the way he inspired Aston Villa to promotion, then led them to safety and lifted them up the table.
Guardiola has told ‘three or four’ unhappy players that they will not play every week and urged them to find new clubs, so City can fund a serious attempt to purchase England’s 28-year-old skipper Kane.
He returns to training with Spurs tomorrow, having assured supporters he will not go on strike.
But if the likes of Bernardo Silva, and perhaps Raheem Sterling, believed Grealish would simply be another one of several creative players being rotated by Guardiola, then they can think again.
The Catalan sounded convincing when he claimed he had been caught on the hop by Messi’s exit from their beloved Barcelona on Thursday – the same day Grealish completed his move from Villa.
He will have the No 10 shirt because we were incredibly convinced with Jack Grealish and were convinced that Leo would continue at Barcelona
Pep Guardiola
But Guardiola insisted Grealish would have arrived, even if he’d had prior knowledge of Messi’s availability.
Guardiola, whose side face Leicester in today’s Community Shield, said: “We have spent £40million on Jack Grealish – 100m we paid and 60m we (raised) last year.
“He will have the No 10 shirt because we were incredibly convinced with Jack Grealish and were convinced that Leo would continue at Barcelona.
“Right now it (signing Messi) is not in our thoughts, absolutely not.”
So was Guardiola suggesting Grealish wouldn’t have been purchased if he’d known Messi – whom he hailed as ‘the most extraordinary player I’ve ever seen in my life’ – would become a free agent?
“I didn’t say that,” Guardiola replied, “We signed Jack and (thought) Messi would continue there. But we’ve been interested in Jack since the beginning of last season. We believed Jack would be perfect for us.
“For the age, for the quality, he’ll be an incredible player for the next five or six years. He’s got many mates here who know him and we’ll create the right environment for him to express his talent.
“We believe we’ve got an incredible talent – not just the skills but the mentality.
“He played one game a week (at Villa) and here it will be three games a week but I’m pretty sure he can do it.
“He’s 25 and has the best years in his career (ahead). He made an exceptional contribution at Aston Villa and he can get to another level with us.”
Although City already had such a wealth of creative talent, Guardiola believes Grealish’s recruitment was necessary to keep his Premier League champions on their toes.
The City boss said: “When a team wins a lot – we arrived at a new level in Europe and won three of the last four Premier Leagues – we need new players that can raise the level of the players who stayed here for a long time.
“Otherwise, it’s difficult to continue to move forward. Every player has to be under pressure.”
Guardiola says he and director of football Txiki Begiristain have admired Grealish since they first clapped eyes on him.
We need new players that can raise the level of the players who stayed here for a long time
Asked to pinpoint the moment when he wanted Grealish, Guardiola said: “The first time I saw him playing, years ago.
“Then it wasn’t possible, we had to invest in other parts of the squad. But when I saw him on TV, I said ‘that guy controls the tempo’.
“I love when he has the ball, he stops before the dribble and all the opponents stop as well. He controls the tempo and rhythm, when he accelerates and decelerates the action.
“And then especially when we played against him, the physicality, the special mentality of how he fought against the opponents, against our players, he said ‘I’m here’.
“Txiki was completely in love with him and that’s why we decided to try.
“I cannot forget when Aston Villa were in the Championship and many clubs wanted him, he decided to stay there to promote the team to the Premier League.
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“In their first year he came back to the Premier League, in the last one or two games, he was more than exceptional – leading the team and he made Villa continue in the Premier League.
“Last season with the good signings Villa made, when he was able [to play] they were fifth or sixth, in the Europa League positions, and close to the Champions League. After that unfortunately he was injured and Villa dropped a bit.
“When you see this mentality and quality, that’s why we thought this was a guy who could help us maintain our level and try to raise it.”