Jack Grealish has admitted he didn’t ‘help himself’ with his off-the-pitch antics during his time at Manchester City.
After moving north to the blue side of Manchester in a £100million deal from Aston Villa in the summer of 2021, the 30-year-old enjoyed four years under Pep Guardiola.
But despite winning the Premier League, Champions League and the Carabao Cup, Grealish failed to live up to that hefty price tag, scoring just 17 goals in 157 games for the club.
The winger’s now reflected now reflected on where his time at City went wrong, admitting his off the field antics didn’t do him any good.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the England international said: ‘People go, “he likes to go out, he likes to party”, and I do. I want to be able to live my life and enjoy myself but obviously there’s a time and a place to do that.
‘Sometimes, I’ll be honest with you, I probably haven’t picked the right times. At City, I didn’t help myself at times, I’ll openly say that, but then I don’t think it was all down to that.’
Jack Grealish has looked rejuvenated since joining Everton this summer
‘People go, “he likes to go out, he likes to party”, and I do’, Grealish said
Since leaving City for Everton on a season-long loan in the summer, Grealish has looked revitalised.
He’s bagged four assists in his first seven games and looks full of confidence and eager to prove his doubters wrong.
And he puts much of his early-season success down to Toffees boss David Moyes, who’s given him the license to play with freedom on the left wing.
‘I’m at my best when I feel loved,’ Grealish admitted.
‘You know, I’m quite vulnerable off the pitch and I wanted to go somewhere to just feel the love again and just wake up with a smile on my face and want to play again.
‘I don’t mean this in an arrogant way but I do like it when managers say, “you’re the footballer, go and do what you want to do”.
‘Obviously you have your jobs. You have your roles to do without the ball and set pieces but he says to me, “when you get the ball just go and do what you want to do”.’
Grealish is back in action on Monday evening as West Ham United, under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo, travel to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Englishman has admitted ‘sometimes I didn’t help myself’ during his four years at City
The fixture comes fresh off the back of the sacking of Graham Potter, who lost his job as Hammers boss on Saturday morning after a torrid start to the season.
Everton go into the fixture in 12th position having won two of their opening five fixtures.
