JACK GREALISH admits he expected to double his Aston Villa goals and assists tally when he signed for Manchester City.
So the £100 million England ace found his first few months at the Etihad harder than he expected.
Manager Pep Guardiola regularly told him not to worry and assured him his performances were fine – but Grealish was desperate to contribute more.
In his first 16 starts for his new club, he had just two goals and three assists to his name.
That’s why his headed goal against Leeds on Tuesday night was a huge relief – and he hopes it will be the moment that kick-starts his Man City career.
Grealish said: “It has probably been a bit more difficult than I thought it was going to be.
“I thought I was going to come here and maybe double my goals and assists tally that I had at Villa. It hasn’t been the case at the moment, but I still feel like I have done OK.
“The one thing I probably have struggled with a little bit is the goals and the assists.
“Hopefully now I am settled here and starting to get used to the players, the team, the management staff and just the club as a whole really. I hope I can just kick on now.
“I scored for the first time in a while on Tuesday so I can’t complain.”
Guardiola was desperate to sign Grealish in the summer and stood by his man when he was not making the difference for his new team.
The 26-year-old was picked to start most weeks – ahead of several big name players in the City squad – and finally this week he got his goal.
Now he hopes to repay the manager’s faith, saying: “The goals and the assists haven’t been there recently, but he has kept reassuring me that I am playing well.
“He just kept saying to me ‘make sure you are hanging in there and the goals and the assists will come’.
“Obviously they did against Leeds and hopefully that is the first of many now.”
While City have a host of star players on their books, Grealish has quickly realised who the main man at the club is.
He believes ‘footballaholic’ boss Guardiola has won them countless matches already this season due to his diligent preparation and tactical tweaks.
That’s why the news yesterday lunchtime that the City boss had returned an ‘inconclusive’ Covid test ahead of Sunday’s trip to Newcastle was such a concern.
Grealish said: “He does so much. I think he is just absolutely obsessed with football and that is why he has had the career he has had as a player and a manager.
“He is just a ‘footballaholic’ really. He absolutely loves it and does so much. The craziest thing that he does is that every game is a different game plan.
“I know you have a lot of managers out there that like to stick with the same game plan no matter what team they are playing, but he is the complete opposite to that.
“Every different game we come up against there is a different way of playing and he has obviously studied that game for the week leading up to it.
“The amount of games he has won for us this season from his tactics is just unbelievable.”
MAN CITY’S CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY
Meanwhile, Man City have gifted Puma footballs to every primary school in East Manchester and every child in foster care.
That means more than 6000 balls were handed out as part of the ‘City Loves Christmas’ campaign.
It also saw 450 gifts delivered to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital along with special video messages from men’s and women’s players.
More than 2,000 three-course Christmas Day meals have been donated to families across Greater Manchester.
And the Club’s charity, City in the Community, also supported 11 local charities by donating food, toys, clothing and equipment.
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Grealish said: “It is always a nice feeling to do it at this time of year. It is so important for the club to be giving back.
“It’s important for us to make donations and hopefully they will give more young people across Manchester the chance to stay active and have fun over the Christmas break.
“All of the players are extremely proud of the work being done by the Club and City in the Community during December.”
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