From Barnt Green to the Champions League, the 2022/23 football season was just about as good as it gets for Jack Grealish.
The 28-year-old, who lived in the Worcestershire village during his time playing for Aston Villa, defied the critics who argued that Manchester City had overspent on the winger after parting with £100 million – breaking the British transfer record in the process.
But Grealish broke records of his own in an epic treble-winning campaign which saw City top the Premier League, lift the FA Cup and finally get their hands on the Champions League trophy.
And, as the 2023/24 season reaches its business end, Grealish is homing in on double delight once again on the domestic and continental front.
Home and Away
Favourites to win the Premier League and also considered the most likely team to win the FA Cup once more, Manchester City is on the hunt to complete another historic treble. The UEFA Champions League betting odds also mark Pep Guardiola’s side as favourites to lift the trophy at 11/5, ahead of Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich (4/1), perennial UCL challengers Real Madrid and City’s Premier League rivals Arsenal (both 11/2).
A Round of 16 clash with FC Copenhagen should be as comfortable as it gets at this stage of the competition before an open draw for the quarter-finals will reveal their next opponent in March.
For Grealish, the main priority is to win back his place in the City starting 11. A series of niggling injuries, plus a relative lack of form, have seen the winger watching on from the sidelines in frustrated fashion – he’s only completed 90 minutes once in the Premier League since early December.
Guess who’s back?! pic.twitter.com/WifHFPMP15
— Kevin De Bruyne (@KevinDeBruyne) January 7, 2024
The form of others in Guardiola’s star-packed squad – allied to the return to fitness of the talismanic Kevin de Bruyne – has reduced Grealish to the role of a bit-part player. Well, for now, at least.
But the Birmingham boy at least knows he has the backing of his head coach, with Pep effusive in his praise of the 28-year-old following the previous campaign in which he broke a long-standing Champions League record of goalscoring chances created by an Englishman.
Challenging on three fronts for glory, City will have to use their squad wisely ahead of a packed schedule to end the campaign. Grealish, eyeing the Premier League-Champions League double in particular, will surely still have a huge role to play in any success that follows.
Let’s Drink to That
As Grealish kicks his heels on the touchlines, he can at least comfort himself in the eye-watering sponsorship deal he’s just signed with drinks firm Pepsi.
It’s understood that he’s put pen to paper on a deal worth seven figures, which will require him to appear in a series of ads alongside footballer turned Hollywood hardman Vinnie Jones.
Here we go @pumafootball
Proud to join the PUMA Fam!#PUMAxJACK pic.twitter.com/sBHd1ghiQK
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) March 6, 2023
It’s the latest in a long line of lucrative contracts signed by Grealish, whose other brands include Gucci, Bose and the sportswear manufacturer Puma, who paid £10 million in 2023 to ensure he wore their boots for the next five seasons.
He, and they, will be hoping that he wins plenty more silverware at Manchester City as a Puma ambassador.
