‘Maybe he listened too much to what the people say’: Pep Guardiola tells Jack Grealish to shut out the noise ahead of his comeback from injury… as Man City boss insists £100m man ‘IS playing good, if he wasn’t I’d tell him’
- Grealish is set to return to the team having missed four games through injury
- He has registered three goals and three assists since joining City in the summer
- Guardiola said the club did not sign the 26-year-old to score 45 goals in a season
Pep Guardiola has told Jack Grealish to ignore public opinion as Manchester City’s £100million record signing gears up for his comeback.
Grealish has missed four games with a shin injury, but is set to play in the FA Cup fifth round tonight at Peterborough.
The England man has three goals and three assists since joining from Aston Villa and accepts he will be judged on those statistics. But Guardiola is adamant the 26-year-old must block out any criticism.
Pep Guardiola has told Jack Grealish to ignore public opinion as he returns to the City squad
‘The statistics are better or similar to Aston Villa in terms of ball contact,’ City’s manager claimed. ‘We didn’t buy him to score 45 goals. He doesn’t have that quality — he has another one.
‘Players today play for the statistics, but this is the biggest mistake they can do.’
New signings often take time to settle under Guardiola, but he believes Grealish has shown enough.
‘Jack is playing well, if he wasn’t I would tell him,’ he said.
Grealish has three goals and assists this season but Guardiola thinks he has shown enough