They are English, they are wingers, they are talented, they participated in the epic of the Three Lions at the Euro, they came out of an exceptional season then they blew up the counters of the transfer window… before descending brutally to earth .
Jack Grealish, bought 117 million euros from Aston Villa by City, and Jadon Sancho, transferred from Dortmund to United for 85 million euros, arrived with an immensely heavy burden. That of being two of the most expensive English strikers in history. And this weight was not easy to bear.
Grealish : 4 buts, 3 passes
A goal in his second Premier League game, another goal and an assist on his Champions League debut. Jack Grealish very quickly justified the credit given to him by Pep Guardiola. But then he fell back into line.
Less convincing performances (1 single goal thereafter in the league) then the rotation of attackers (with Foden, Mahrez, Jesus or even De Bruyne) imposed by Guardiola reduced its importance. The former Aston Villa captain even spent a quarter (6/23) of his Premier League games on the bench without being able to get up.
Small physical glitches also prevented him from participating in eight outings. Including a tibia problem from which he has just come out with a magnificent performance and a nice goal on Tuesday in the FA Cup.
“Obviously I want to score but the main thing is to help the team”underlines the 26-year-old player who had a long conversation with his coach. “He helped me. I want to score goals and provide assists, but he said that’s not all that matters.”
Pep Guardiola prefers to put statistics aside. “We didn’t buy him to score 45 goals. He doesn’t have the qualities for that, but he has others. He plays very well, really. The statistics are just a piece of information that we have , but there are players who make their team better without appearing in the statistics.”
Sancho : 4 buts, 2 passes
Jadon Sancho meanwhile had to wait for his 15th appearance with Manchester United to finally score. Author of 16 goals and 20 assists last season with Borussia Dortmund, the 21-year-old winger has gone through a long zone of turbulence which has earned him a lot of criticism.
But the change of coach and the arrival of Ralf Rangnick did him the greatest good. “We had a lot of conversations, Jadon and I”explains the former Leipzig coach who knows him “for a few years since I tried to lure him to Leipzig when he was 17”.
His month of February was pretty good: two goals and two assists that suggest a cannonball end to the season. “I guess it’s because I’ve worked a lot harder and believe in myself a lot more”believes the young English international.
But Ralf Rangnick wants even more. “He’s in good form at the moment and it’s about making sure he can play at this kind of level continuously. Because he can still improve.”
Trained… at Manchester City, Jadon Sancho will discover the Etihad Stadium for the first time on Sunday, with an obvious desire to shine. While Jack Grealish will live his first Mancunian derby at home when he finds his best form.
