Grealish Faces Man City Battle Amid New Competition

 The midfield player has been putting in a lot of effort to make up for the disappointing campaign that ended last year, but the Etihad Stadium has upped the bar once more.

The excitement that greeted Jack Grealish upon his arrival in New York last week was evocative of the craze that once greeted David Beckham during his heyday.

 During Manchester City's US trip, Grealish accidentally brought grown women to tears as he posed for pictures and greeted supporters on Fifth Avenue.

One woman said, "Oh my God," as she snapped pictures, and another, who was crying and had on a blue City shirt, could not contain herself and cried out, "I love you."

 Grealish is the star of City's preseason tour of the United States, along with Erling Haaland, and the wild reaction in Manhattan proves his appeal goes beyond football.

He signed a £10 million ($12.8 million) contract with the upscale fashion brand Gucci in 2022, and he also serves as an ambassador for the apparel line boohooMAN.

 In addition to having endorsement deals with Bose, Pepsi, and Hellmans, he secured a record-breaking boot endorsement contract with Puma last year—the largest for a British player.

 Grealish enjoys success off the field and in his business dealings, as he will soon become a parent.

He was demoted to a bit-part player for the Premier League champions last season, so things are not going so well in the area that matters most to City fans. And things are going to get much harder soon...

Grealish has enjoyed a brief yet highly eventful tenure with the City. In the summer of 2021, he became the most expensive Premier League player of all time, with a cost of £100m ($128m) upon his arrival at the club.

 However, Enzo Fernandez has since supplanted him, and Jude Bellingham has unseated him as the most expensive British player.

 Nevertheless, the price tag was a significant factor in his first season with City, and he only made 31 appearances across all competitions, scoring six goals and providing four assists.

He regained his footing in his second campaign, gaining prominence following the World Cup and contributing significantly to City's treble victory. 

He concluded the campaign with five goals and 11 assists; however, anyone who paid careful attention could discern that he played a crucial role in City's accomplishments.

His capacity to carry the ball forward, hold it up, and elicit fouls was essential to the team's operation. He subsequently admitted to weeping as he watched the final episode of the Netflix series 'Together', which detailed the season.

Nevertheless, he returned to his initial position in the subsequent campaign. In reality, it was Grealish's most unsuccessful campaign to date. He only made 24 appearances, with only 10 of them occurring in the Premier League. 

He ultimately contributed three assists and three goals to the campaign, and Guardiola utilized him sparingly in the crucial games.

Despite starting one of City's final seven Premier League matches, he did not participate in the final three. Additionally, he was an unused substitute in the FA Cup final against Manchester United. 

The England squad for Euro 2024 excluded him due to his sparse participation and the exceptional performances of players such as Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon, and Cole Palmer.

There were numerous factors contributing to Grealish's decline in performance. In the third game of the season against Sheffield United, he sustained a dead leg, which he subsequently claimed was the most severe injury of his career.

Additionally, while playing for Everton, he experienced a traumatic break-in at his family home, which he maintains continues to plague him. Subsequently, he sustained numerous muscle injuries, one of which resulted in his weeping.

 To exacerbate the situation, Guardiola appeared to imply that the injuries resulted from a lack of optimum fitness and cautioned him that City would not wait for him to regain his former self.

The signing of Jeremy Doku last summer underscored the competitive nature of City's squad despite Grealish's exceptional performances. Doku has replaced Grealish as Guardiola's preferred left-winger. 

However, in certain matches, he has employed Mateo Kovacic as an additional holding midfielder and deployed Phil Foden on the left with the freedom to drift in.

Savinho has recently signed with Girona following an exceptional season on loan from Troyes, which is expected to intensify the competition. The 20-year-old has excelled as a left-winger in La Liga and is a potential second obstacle to Grealish securing a regular starting position.