Jack Grealish: Aston Villa star is a unique and maverick talent with a bright England future after inspiration from Chelsea legend John Terry
Jack Grealish believes he is a completely different player and person from the last time Aston Villa were in the Premier League.
Villa spent three seasons in the Championship before winning promotion back to the top flight in May.
The 24-year-old is now club captain and starting to prove he is a top Premier League player with international credentials.
In his last four games, he has been involved in four goals (scored two and two assists) and created 15 chances for his team-mates. The performance in the 2-1 win against Brighton last weekend was a particular highlight.
In his first five league games of the season, he was involved in just one goal (one assist) and created 10 chances.
The midfielder has been improving as the weeks progress but he faces a tough test against Manchester City in Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off, which is live on talkSPORT.
These are the games Grealish and Aston Villa want to be playing in, though, after a three-year span in the second tier.
When asked at how different the atmosphere is at the club compared to that relegation season, he told talkSPORT: “It’s completely different. It doesn’t even feel like the same club. I think we all know what a bad season that was and I think we all try and forget about it as much as we can.
“Those bad times help you in the future and they’ve certainly helped me. Obviously I didn’t have the best season back then.
“I was only 19 or 20 at the time and I’ve gone back into the Championship now and spent three years there and I’ve come back this year a completely different player and completely different person as well.”
Grealish is a boyhood fan of the midlands club and it has not always been easy to get to the position he is in now.
He came through the Villa academy and got his first taste of men’s football on loan at Notts County in the 2013/14 season.
He impressed under then County manager Shaun Derry in League One and looked destined to shine in the top flight.
The midfielder went on to make 17 Premier League appearances the following season but his progress was overshadowed by pictures published in The Sun allegedly showing him inhaling nitrous oxide.
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Grealish played in 16 matches in the 2015/16 season, all defeats, as Villa were relegated from the Premier League for the first time.
He shined in the Championship, though, and became one of the standout players in the division leading to constant transfer speculation.
Tottenham were thought to have come the closest to prising him away from Villa Park in 2018 but he stayed to try and get them promoted.
And that he did. Guiding them to the play-offs after being made captain and beating Derby County in final at Wembley.
He insisted being captain of the club at such a young age is something he thrives off.
“It’s not a burden at all. I love it and try and thrive off it,” he added. “I think that’s what I do and that’s why the manager trusted me and gave me the armband because I would thrive off it, which I did at the back end of last season.
“I don’t see it as an extra bit of pressure. I look around our dressing room and we have so much talent and so many leaders in there in the likes of Tyrone (Mings), Tom Heaton, John McGinn and Conor Hourihane, we are all leaders in there.”
Manager Dean Smith is someone who has shown a lot of faith in Grealish and given him the responsibility of being captain. He now believes we are seeing more maturity from the midfielder both on and off the pitch.
Smith told talkSPORT: "We believed he was a Premier League player. Unfortunately for him and Villa, the last couple of seasons we’ve been in the Championship.
“For me he’s starting to show what he’s about. His performance levels have been good but his productivity is getting better, in terms of goals and assists, which is what a lot of people will look at.
“His all-round performance last week, recovering balls in his own half and then getting on the end of crosses at the other end. It was his all-round performance that probably shone through for everybody last week.
“He’s got a lot of responsibility now at Aston Villa and he knows that. By having the armband he has the responsibility both on and off the football pitch of representing the club that he loves.
“I think with that will come natural maturation and he’s shown that in abundance the way he carries himself and handles himself but also on the football pitch as well.”
One person who has also helped Grealish develop both on and off the pitch is John Terry.
Terry is the assistant manager at Aston Villa and had his final season as a player at the club in the 2017/18 campaign. Grealish believes having the former England and Chelsea captain around the club has set a great example for him to follow.
He said: “I’ve learnt loads from him. Not just because now I’m captain but I think in general. When he was here you only had to be around him for two weeks just to see why he was such a successful player.
“He demanded the best off everyone. Every single day he was so professional. He eats right and he does everything right. He’s the last out of the training ground and is the first in as well.
“I think that helped me because when I was young kid you look at him and think ‘well if he’s doing that at his age then why am I not doing it now?’
“I think that’s what I started to do, to do gym more now and stay here late. Not just because he’s done it but because it helps you as well and I think that’s why over the past few years I’ve become a better player.”
Grealish has been the star of the season for Villa and some think an England call-up is on the horizon. He is yet to receive a call-up for Gareth Southgate's side but it seems a matter of when and not if that moment comes.
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Danny Murphy told talkSPORT: “What I like about him is he is so unique compared to the other midfielders and players we’ve got if you are talking about the England national team.
“He’s got that wonderful gift of gliding past people with the ball, it’s effortless for him. He can go past people and make things happen on his own. His decision making is getting better in the final third in terms of his assists.
“He’s getting in the box and scoring goals now, which any good midfielder needs to add to their game.
“He’s also capable of taking the ball off the back players, under pressure, and making things happen. He’s not safe, he takes the ball in under pressure and manoeuvres and manipulates the ball really well and gets his team on the front foot.
“I think it’s an absolute certainty he will become an England regular but what I’m seeing is a player fulfilling his potential.”
Former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes also believed he was capable of playing for the national side and most teams in the Premier League.
“I think Grealish is on the verge of becoming an England international,” Moyes told talkSPORT. “For me, he looks different from a few of the other England players.
“A wee bit of a maverick and plays with personality.
“I think Grealish could play for nearly most clubs because I think he’s got a bit of personality and he’s a bit unpredictable as you are not quite sure how he plays or where he plays.”
Tony Cascarino thinks Aston Villa will have a tough job keeping hold of Grealish if he stays on his current trajectory.
Cascarino told talkSPORT: “Are Villa going to be a club who challenge the elite teams in the country? Because what they’ve got is a very young side who is very energetic and a guy who is now ready to play Champions League football and that is Jack Grealish.
“He is ready to be a Champions League player and go in that competition and perform. If they can do that then they can build around Jack. He’s a player that has to be playing at the highest level and I feel that he’s got the heart and courage to do it.”
Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you THREE live Premier League commentaries across our network, including Manchester City vs Aston Villa at 12.30pm