Man City could live to regret making hasty Jack Grealish transfer decision

Ever since Jack Grealish arrived at Manchester City in 2021 the noise has been constant.

He's too expensive. City don't need him. He'll sit on the bench. He doesn't suit City. He's not good enough. He's not the player he was. City should sell him.

All of those things have been said about Grealish during his transformation from England's most popular player at EURO 2020 to someone who is booed whenever City play away from home. As an ardent backer of Grealish, I admit he hasn't yet consistently put in the kind of performances in a sky blue shirt that persuaded City to part with £100m to sign him. But cutting the cord now, as a string of reports are suggesting, would be a big mistake.

Recent reports have suggested that City could consider moving Grealish on should they receive a suitable offer in the summer, and if that turned out to be the case then there would surely be no shortage of potential suitors.

In 55 appearances for City Grealish has scored only seven goals and assisted just four. While that is obviously not enough and something he needs to improve - as the player has admitted himself - there is much more to his game than goals and assists.

Grealish is arguably one of City's most reliable attackers in terms of keeping possession and creating space for others. Only Kevin de Bruyne has made more shot-creating actions per 90 minutes for City this season, while the fact that Grealish has underperformed his expected assist rating by 1.2 suggests better finishing from his teammates would have given him at least one assist.

Going into the finer details of what Grealish has done so far at City can seem like clutching at straws: of course City want and expect more end product from him. But what shouldn't be underestimated is the time required by certain players to settle in at City, and particularly, Guardiola's system.

"The first season [at City] is not very easy. It wasn't easy for me when I arrived. I didn't play much," Bernardo Silva said recently in defence of Grealish's start to life at the Etihad Stadium.

"People that play in other clubs think 'if one day I play for Man City I will score 20 goals and 20 assists' but it doesn't work like that. Jack [Grealish], in the way he works for the team, in the way he attracts players to him and then creates spaces for other players, he has been helping us a lot."

It may be that outsiders, and even some City fans, will never be satisfied with Grealish unless he exceeds the numbers he posted at Aston Villa. Given that he was the star attacker at his boyhood side rather than a cog in a complex machine, it seems unlikely that will ever happen.

The worst thing City could do though is to cut their losses too soon on a player who has shown glimpses of his full potential this season. If Grealish hasn't continued his development by the end of this season it might be time to think again, but the signs so far are that slowly but surely the 27-year-old is repaying the faith Guardiola put in him.