Party boy Jack Grealish put through his paces in shuttle runs after England’s victory over Malta… before the smiling Man City star signs autographs and takes selfies with eager fans
Jack Grealish was a man in demand after England coasted to victory against Malta, with the Manchester City midfielder signing an autograph for an opponent and taking selfies with several stewards following his warm down.
Grealish was an unused substitute for the Three Lions’ 4-0 win in Euro 2024 qualifying after Gareth Southgate opted to name him and City’s four other Treble winners on the bench following wild celebrations that stretched across four days.
The 27-year-old partied hard after his side lifted the Champions League trophy last weekend, understandably opting to toast the moment with a series of wild nights out and a booze-sodden open-top bus parade around the city centre.
In a little over 72 hours, a jubilant Grealish jetted back from Istanbul after drinking into the early hours in his full match kit and then promptly set off for Ibiza, where a number of City players stayed for 12 hours on a whistle-stop tour of the island.
International duty called time on the merriment, however, with Southgate having included Grealish and a handful of his team-mates in his squad for the current break.
Jack Grealish was put through his paces after watching England comfortably beat Malta 4-0
Grealish was spotted doing shuttle runs across the box as he looks to maintain fitness levels
After his warm down, the midfielder took several selfies with stewards and headed inside
And after watching on from the bench in Malta, the playmaker was put through his paces under the supervision of a coach as he ran from one end of a box to the other.
The gruelling shuttle runs in the sweltering heat were designed to enable him to keep up his fitness levels, especially after his consecutive nights of hitting the bottle.
After completing several laps, Grealish then headed toward the tunnel.
He was promptly stopped by a Malta player requesting an autograph, however, with Grealish duly obliging. Shortly after, a group of stewards took selfies with him.
Having taken the time to fulfil everyone’s wishes, he walked back inside.
Gareth Southgate left four of City’s five Treble winners on the bench for the Euro qualifier
After his wild celebrations, Grealish is now one of English football’s most recognisable faces
Earlier in the week, boss Southgate admitted there was a ‘line’ not to cross with international fixtures still to play but conceded City’s players were not in his thoughts for the win over Malta. Instead, they will feature against North Macedonia.
John Stones, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips had also revelled in City’s historic Treble, although Foden was brought on at half-time last night.
‘As I have said, I have spoken with the players and we have talked about where our focus needs to be and where we need them to be,’ Southgate had explained.
‘We have acknowledged what they have experienced and that is for me to manage over the coming week.’
Grealish revelled in City’s Treble triumph and undertook a wild bender lasting four days
He then added: ‘Point number one is they all wanted to come in to be with the group, which is fantastic. And as I said to them – we are all in the unknown a little bit.
‘The focus with all of the City boys is to get them right for these games. Inevitably we just don’t know what that emotional dip is going to be for them. They need to recover, they need to sleep, they need to eat well and we want to get them ready.
‘I’ve seen enough to know what could help us here and then Monday is a few days further on. We have had players fresh from teams in the Champions League final before but we haven’t had a team that has won a Treble.
‘For that group of players and staff, things will never be the same again. Everything changes in their lives.’
