England national team head coach Gareth Southgate believes Manchester City has improved Jack Grealish as a player.
Grealish moved to City last summer but found games hard to come by but despite contributing just three assists and three goals after his £100m move from Aston Villa last summer but according to Southgate, the midfielder has improved.
“It’s interesting that I spent the whole summer getting hammered for not picking him, now I’m being told I shouldn’t be picking him. But that’s my world. That’s quite transient with lots of different players. I imagine there would have been some anxiety about going there and not winning a trophy.
“He’s now done that so I’m sure he’ll feel a little bit calmer. He would have hated the accusation that he had gone there and not won anything. He’s learned a lot positionally. Tactically, his working without the ball has improved over a period of 18 months.
“At Villa, it was quite unique, he was the one who gave them hope, got them up the pitch, had total freedom with what he did,” Southgate said.
The midfielder is part of the England squad preparing for their Nations League games set for next month.
