Jack Grealish reveals impact of £100m price tag amid Man City criticism

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Jack Grealish believes he would not receive as much criticism had Manchester City paid £20million rather than a British record £100m for him.

The England forward arrived at the Etihad last summer with plenty of pressure heaped on his shoulders thanks to the hefty price tag City paid to Aston Villa. And speaking on the BT Sport's Around the Block series, Grealish was asked about the fee attached to him and whether it is an issue for him.

"I'm not really bothered about the price tag," said Grealish. "At the end of the day, that was my release clause, that's what Villa thought I was worth. Man City paid that for me.

Read more: City rubbish Real Madrid reports about Haaland contract

"I've noticed in the past six months, especially, it's constantly (a talking point). If I was worth £20m, I think I could play games, not have a good game and people wouldn't say a thing. But because it's £100m, everyone talks about it.

"That side of it is a bit annoying. I think in the future, it's something to look back on: being the first British £100m player but I need to start upping my game, performing and scoring goals, getting assists."

Despite saying he wants to clearly add goals to his game, Grealish admits he has never been a goalscoring winger.

He added: "But it's weird, people talk about me scoring goals, there's no better feeling in football but what's crazy is, I've never actually been — you know you have them types of wingers that constantly score — I've never actually been a type of winger that scores.

"Even the season before City bought me, I only scored six Premier League goals and the season before that I think I scored eight or six again — I can't really remember.

"No one says a thing, everyone's like 'Jack Grealish