Man City party boy Jack Grealish is back from a ‘whirlwind’ month of Treble celebrations and ready for more ahead of the new season… and the Community Shield is first on his hit list!
- Grealish is looking sharp in pre-season training ahead of the new campaign
- That is despite his well-documented partying antics after Man City’s Treble win
- The £100m winger admits those celebrations were the best few weeks of his life
There will soon be a framed photograph in Jack Grealish’s apartment. The iconic image of Manchester City’s Treble. A topless Grealish on the fun bus, arms outstretched in the teeming rain.
‘It’s a nice one, isn’t it?’ he said last night in Tokyo. ‘I’ve not got a copy yet but that photo will bring back memories forever.’
Three months before that was captured, Grealish wondered if City were going to win anything at all. And, as they lay second to Arsenal in the Premier League, he wasn’t the only one. The relentlessness of their run-in, hunting down the Gunners and the ease of dispatching such quality in Europe, will be tough to match.
‘It was tense. I think if you go back to the international break in March, I was thinking “Are we going to win anything this year?” After that break, especially in April when we drew only one of about nine games, we were unstoppable. The most unstoppable I’ve felt. I just had so much belief.
Jack Grealish says Manchester City’s Treble celebrations were the best weeks of his life
City swept up all three major trophies last season, with the third coming in last month’s Champions League final against Inter Milan
Grealish’s partying after the triumph has been well-documented, and the £100m winger says it has been a ‘whirlwind’ period in his life
His five-week lads’ holiday has finally come to an end after he partied in Istanbul, Ibiza, and Las Vegas before returning to ‘intense’ pre-season training
‘It has been a whirlwind. For the first two or three weeks after I didn’t really take it in. Now it’s been a while and I’ve come to terms with it. They were the best few weeks of my life.’
Grealish spent a chunk of his summer training out in Dubai in, what he says, served as preparation for a gruelling trip to Asia in which Pep Guardiola has had to temper the intensity of his sessions given the humidity. He looks sharp – certainly one in the eye for those who complained of his post-season partying – and ready for more.
He does have a somewhat surprising goal though. Another Treble? ‘I’ve said to a few of the guys that I’m desperate to win the Community Shield,’ he added. ‘This is my third year here and I’ve lost two of those finals. I’m desperate.
‘As a footballer you want to win as much as possible but you also want to win everything once. That’s what I want. At least once! You tick them off, don’t you? I lost out on two and I want one.’
City lost against Liverpool last season and Leicester City the season before that in the traditional curtain-raiser. Guardiola picks a heavily rotated team for the occasion after offering the squad longer holidays, meaning a condensed preparation time with minimal friendlies. They are not usually fit and Guardiola admitted after beating Bayern Munich 2-1 last night that they are likely to be undercooked again.
‘We are not far away but we are not in our best conditions,’ Guardiola said. ‘We will play the Community Shield not being in our top, top form. This is normal. We have one week in Manchester to prepare that final and train better than we can here. We rely on the mentality that we have and the personality that we have.’
But he is back in pre-season training and looking sharp ahead of the 2023-24 campaign
Grealish is desperate to get his hands on the Community Shield after losing two previous finals
Grealish believes the personalities give City an edge. He struck up an immediate friendship with Erling Haaland when the Norwegian joined – which not everybody expected – and the pair went away to the south of France together during their downtime. The squad, Grealish insisted, is without overpowering ego.
‘I saw Ruben (Dias) mention (Mateo) Kovacic saying he couldn’t believe how close we all are,’ he said. ‘We don’t just say that, it’s the truth. We have such a great group here and hopefully it can continue.
‘Since I’ve been here we’ve had brilliant captains (Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan) who keep the team together, going out for meals or other things.
‘We’ve lost Gundo, who was a massive part of us, but you make so many good friends along the way in football and people do come and go. It’s obviously sad but we have a great team and a very strong group.’
