Jack Grealish shares what he told Conor Hourihane when he was leaving Aston Villa, admits he was totally wrong

Jack Grealish shares what he told Conor Hourihane when he was leaving Aston Villa, admits he was totally wrong

Aston Villa cult hero Jack Grealish has revealed what he told Conor Hourihane before he left the Villans in 2021 that later came back to bite him.

The England international came through the ranks at Villa and became a key player – as well as their captain – before sealing a £100million move to Manchester City.

Grealish, speaking to Ben Foster on Amazon Prime Video Sport, lifted the lid on certain aspects of life at City, as well as what his thoughts were ahead of leaving the Villans.

The 28-year-old revealed he told Hourihane that he thought he’d be pulling up trees from the off at the Etihad Stadium, getting goals and assists aplenty.

However, that wasn’t the case, and Grealish admitted that he found it much more difficult at first due to the jump in quality in the training ground.

“The first year was so difficult,” said Grealish. “Do you know what’s mad?

“I remember saying to Conor Hourihane who I was with at Villa and I said when I knew I was going to City, I was like ‘I’m going to get so many goals and assists in this team, imagine how many I got at Villa and now I’m coming here’.
“But it weren’t like that, it was so much more difficult than I thought. You were at Villa, and I don’t know what it is. At City now, every time you get the ball, there are two people on you. Bam.

“And I can imagine what managers say in the dressing room, as soon as their wingers get the ball we need two people, our winger getting back and helping out. 15 teams out of 20 you play in the Premier League just drop into a low block.

“At Villa it wasn’t really like that. I’m not trying to compare the two but it was so much more difficult than I thought and I had been at Villa for my whole life and I never knew.”

Aston Villa now above Jack Grealish’s Manchester City in Premier League table
Grealish needed some time to get fully up to speed at City after leaving Villa, but he managed to do just that. He was a key player as they won the treble last season.

Now, the Villans find themselves above the Citizens in the Premier league table. They can go top if they win against Sheffield United on Friday night.

Hopefully Villa’s momentum continues and they can remain in the title race in the coming months, perhaps even strengthening their ranks further in the January transfer window.

It would be a huge achievement if the Villans pip City – and also the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool – to the Premier League title.