£100m man ‘looks bored’ at Man City, claims Merson

Jason Soutar
Paul Merson speaking to Gareth Southgate

According to former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson, Jack Grealish “looks bored at Manchester City”.

Grealish’s move to the Premier League champions in the summer smashed the British transfer record, costing the Citizens £100million.

He had enjoyed a wonderful career at his boyhood club Aston Villa and was recently met with a mixed reception on his return to Villa Park.


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The England midfielder has hardly set the league alight since the move, but has not been poor by any stretch of the imagination.

So far, Grealish has scored twice and assisted three times in 18 appearances in all competitions as he continues to find his feet in Manchester.

And he has been accused of ‘looking bored’ by Merson, who believes Grealish is ‘half as involved’ in games as he was at Villa.

“Jack Grealish looks bored at Manchester City,” he said in his Daily Star column.

“He’s a dribbler and he likes to take people on. When he was at Aston Villa he could do that whenever he likes. But at City it’s pass and move.

Pep Guardiola alongside Jack Grealish

“Now he’s getting the ball half as much and he’s chasing the game.

“Grealish was a massive fish in a little pond at Villa. But City are a team full of stars. He’s a top-quality player and he just needs to be patient and adjust.

“He has to learn when to take players on. He looks like he’s getting a bit bored. Now he has to square his defender up on the left and roll it back to his full-back over and over again.”

Meanwhile, City manager Pep Guardiola refused to comment on links to Erling Haaland after the player’s agent named the Premier League champions as a possible destination for the forward.

Haaland has been linked with a number of clubs after impressing for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. Premier League sides Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea have all be rumoured to be interested in the Norwegian.

However, the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, has named four clubs as possible suitors for the star. Dortmund’s rivals Bayern Munich were named as were Spanish giant’s Barcelona and Real Madrid, alongside Guardiola’s City.

When asked about the 21-year-old, Guardiola refused to comment.

“Don’t ask me about Erling Haaland, I won’t answer.”