Pep Guardiola says £100m man Jack Grealish is immensely popular at the Etihad and is ‘really loved’ by his teammates, especially after the Brummie playmaker earned a new nickname at Manchester City recently.
Former debonair Aston Villa captain Grealish was involved in a nasty confrontation with hostile Atletico Madrid defender Stefan Savic as City found a way to cling tenaciously to their win in progressing to the Champions League semi-finals at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday. An unused substitute in Madrid, the feisty Grealish was compelled to continue his feud with Savic from the first leg after City sealed their passage to the semi-finals.
Grealish was caught on video verbalising some expletives Savic before the latter responded by pulling the City man’s hair. According to the Mirror, Grealish’s running feud with Savic over the two games has led to some of his City teammates dubbing him ‘Peaky Jack’ in reference to the BBC hit TV show Peaky Blinders, which is set in Birmingham. Although his Etihad boss Guardiola has yet to refer to Grealish by that nickname, he did offer a fresh insight into the 26-year-old’s popularity within the dressing room at The Etihad.
“He is incredibly loved,” said Guardiola.
“He joined the team, in the locker room, (and) he’s a lovely lad. He’s settled perfectly, so quickly.”
Grealish joined City for a £100million British record transfer fee last summer after acquitting himself stunningly the last season with Villa, although the England international has struggled a tad to replicate his Villa form in City colors, with just four goals in 32 appearances this campaign.
Nevertheless his gaffer, Guardiola himself, is not too worried about his drop in his goalscoring prowess, confident that the lad is doing just fine at the Etihad in earlier interviews.