Three plastic bracelets adorn Jack Grealish’s right wrist. One reads: faith. Another says: happiness. The last reads: love life. Apt.
Grealish is a Treble winner; if he doesn’t have faith following the euphoria of an unforgettable fortnight then he may never will.
Happiness? You can’t wipe the smile off his face. Loving life? He certainly has been – too much for certain people.
Grealish’s profile has soared since Manchester City’s historic Champions League triumph in Istanbul on June 10.
Front and centre of City’s celebrations; every drink, wobble, slur and stumble captured for the public to consume.
Jack Grealish had been front and centre of Manchester City’s Treble celebrations this month
Every drink and stumble Grealish had in the celebrations was captured for the public eye
Grealish and Man City’s celebrations had generated as much debate as City’s Treble success
They can’t get enough of him: English football’s new darling – like Paul Gascoigne before him.
The preceding celebrations that took in Turkey, Ibiza and Manchester have sparked as much debate as the actual achievement of winning three trophies.
Alcohol was consumed. A lot of it. Not that Grealish regrets any of it.
‘I knew what I was doing, that’s just the way I am – I’m like that when I party usually,’ he explains.
‘Actually, I’m not like that usually but we’ve won the Treble and it’s something that will never happen again.
‘So I went and enjoyed myself and I wasn’t the only one. I think a lot of the time you’ll see everyone recording me but I could show you stuff where other people were the same.
‘We all enjoyed ourselves, other people enjoyed themselves where the cameras weren’t but that was just me enjoying myself, I’d had the most successful season of my life.
‘It is now June 19, I came into training last year on July 13. Years ago, you’d have a season for nine months, I’ve just played for nearly 12 months.
Grealish described the Champions League win and celebrations at the best weekend of my life
The Man City star was brought off the bench in England’s 7-0 victory against North Macedonia
‘I’ve been to a World Cup, I’ve won three trophies and then I’m going to be back training in four weeks or so why not enjoy myself? It was the best weekend of my life.
‘I would never sit here and lie to you and say “I don’t drink and I don’t party” because I do. But then there’s so many people that will come here and say to you “I don’t do this, I don’t do that” when they do.
‘I’m just truthful. I’m living my dream of playing for the best club in the world.’
Evidently, City’s four-day festivities had little impact on England’s performances in their recent Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Eleven goals without conceding has put England firmly on course for next summer’s finals in Germany. Grealish played his part, coming on as a second half substitute in Monday’s 7-0 win over North Macedonia.
Yet questions over Grealish’s professionalism linger given the excesses of City’s partying in the lead up to the international break.
‘I have a great relationship with him [Gareth Southgate], honestly,’ said Grealish.
‘I kind of knew in the back of my head that I wouldn’t play on the Friday [against Malta].
The 27-year-old insists he has a great relationship with England manager Gareth Southgate
Grealish has admitted he was ‘a bit hungover’ when he joined up with the England camp
‘But even so I came into camp on Tuesday night, I was a bit hungover but I wasn’t drunk. I came into camp with the other guys, we slept then woke up and trained.’
You’d imagine Grealish will have a few more beverages ahead of his return to pre-season next month.
He’ll need time to compute what has been a life-affirming season.
Physically, Grealish will be drained after a marathon 59 game season. But the mental output of a tumultuous few months will take time to recover from, too.
‘My emotions have been so high. When I was sitting in the camp on Thursday, it was the biggest high I’d been on in my whole life at the weekend,’ Grealish explained.
‘You come into the camp, you sit on your own in your room and think “will I ever feel that high again?”
‘The Saturday from the game, being there with my family I was so emotional after it. For about two hours, I couldn’t get over it.
‘Even the Sunday and Monday; what followed and spending it with family and friends, that group of players, the staff, it was the best weekend of my life.
Grealish admits the emotional impact of the historic season could take time to recover from
‘Behind closed doors I’m quite an emotional person, I’m so close with my family.
‘As soon as we finished the game I had tears in my eyes, I was crying on the pitch. When I see my family, my mom, my little sister and stuff. It was just emotional.
‘Then my dad, he took me to every game since I was six years old.
‘Last year I sat there and thought, not have I made the right decision, but “I’ve not had much game time, am I ever going to be a starter?”.
‘I came back from the World Cup and I came into the team. I’m one of the main players and then we go and win the Treble.
‘It was so emotional, but it was good emotion if that makes sense.’
It makes perfect sense, Jack.
