Manchester City aren't going to rest on their laurels. Last season they regained the Premier League title and reached their first Champions League final. They followed that success up recently by signing Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in a huge £100 million deal.
Grealish is a fan favourite in English football, known for his style and skill, and he adds another exciting option to Pep Guardiola's attacking armoury. Here, we will look at what he brings to Manchester City, how he compares to his new teammates, and how he could improve their chances of retaining the title and going further in Europe.
Analysing Grealish
The most noticeable asset in Grealish's game is his dribbling. With exceptional close control and a subtle change of pace, he has the ability to lure defenders in, teasing them by leaving the ball on the end of his right boot in what seems to be an interceptible position, before jinking past them and into space. Last season just three Premier League players were more productive off the dribble than Grealish - Adama Traore of Wolves, Allan Saint-Maximin of Newcastle and Andre-Frank Zambo-Anguissa of Fulham.
While quick, Grealish isn't explosive. He prefers to drift inside off the left and into the centre, rather than stay wide and look for isolations. In those more central areas, he can draw attention and free up space for others, retaining the ball in tight situations, winning fouls or setting up teammates. Crucially, he has the end product, which is partly what provokes defenders to close him down. He can pass with the inside or outside of his right foot, with perfect weighting, and is also capable on his left.
During his time at Aston Villa, Grealish would create pinball-like situations in the final third - he'd play the ball to a teammate, and the ball would come back, over and over again, a succession of one-twos taking defenders out of the game. His ability to combine with others is something that will help him fit into Manchester City's passing style.
How does Grealish compare to City's other attacking options?
Grealish is a versatile player capable of playing off the left wing or as an attacking midfielder. It's possible that Guardiola will deploy him on the left side of the front three, as he did in last weekend's Community Shield defeat to Leicester, but he could also play Grealish as one of the No.8s in midfield.
In terms of comparison, Grealish is more similar to City legend David Silva than he is to any of the current crop. Like Silva, he can glide past defenders, combine well with teammates and set up scoring chances. He also possesses both surprising physicality and competitiveness considering his size and position, which again makes the Silva comparison an obvious one.
Manchester City have an abundance of 'wide forwards', which is a more fitting description than 'winger' considering their capacity for rotating positions and scoring goals. Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Ferran Torres are Grealish's main competitors for those two positions in Guardiola's 4-3-3 formation.
Sterling and Ferran are both quick forwards who make clever runs behind defences. A lot of their goals come when clean through against the goalkeeper. Mahrez and Foden are more dribblers and creators who like to receive the ball out wide or between the lines. They aren't likely to make the same darting runs Sterling and Ferran make.
Grealish is a better dribbler than most, if not all of these players. He is arguably more creative too, in terms of vision and execution of the final ball. However, he is not as consistent a goal threat. He almost never makes runs behind, and he doesn't pack much punch in his shot from outside the box. In his last two seasons of Premier League football he scored a combined 14 goals. He may improve on that total at Manchester City, but that's not why he's been signed.
It's also possible that Guardiola plays Grealish in one of the two attacking midfield positions. Kevin De Bruyne would likely occupy one of these roles, leaving Grealish to fight it out with Ilkay Gundogan for the other. Grealish is significantly more effective on the dribble than the German, and also creates more opportunities for teammates, but he isn't as efficient when it comes to hitting the penalty box and finding scoring positions himself.
How will Grealish change City's attack?
No team in the Premier League averaged more possession than Manchester City's 60.8% last season. Dominance of the ball is the basis of Guardiola's of football - it's a running theme throughout his managerial career and it has continued in England. Grealish will only make City more dominant in this sense.
His ability to keep the ball under pressure and combine with teammates is almost unparalleled in English football. These qualities will also help Manchester City to retain possession and may make them even more effective at breaking down low blocks. Grealish will give them greater control and commit defenders to free up space for the likes of Sterling, Foden, Gabriel Jesus and De Bruyne.
The only issue may be in adapting to a new system. At Aston Villa, Grealish almost was the system. Everything attacking flowed through him. But at Manchester City he will be expected to play in harmony with five or six other players, all of whom are equally effective albeit in their own unique ways. In short: Grealish is no longer a big fish in a small pond. However, in his first press conference he expressed excitement over the challenge ahead.
"I can't wait to play with these players," he said. "Sometimes at Villa I would get doubled up. [Here] it might be harder for teams to double up on me which will give me more freedom to attack players one-v-one. It can take time, you need to find that chemistry, but after a few weeks I'll have that and will look forward to it."
All data per WhoScored unless otherwise stated.
