There will soon be a framed photograph in Jack Grealish’s apartment. The iconic image of Manchester City’s Treble. A topless Grealish on the fun bus, arms outstretched in the teeming rain.
‘It’s a nice one, isn’t it?’ he said last night in Tokyo. ‘I’ve not got a copy yet but that photo will bring back memories forever.’
Three months before that was captured, Grealish wondered if City were going to win anything at all. And, as they lay second to Arsenal in the Premier League, he wasn’t the only one. The relentlessness of their run-in, hunting down the Gunners and the ease of dispatching such quality in Europe, will be tough to match.
‘It was tense. I think if you go back to the international break in March, I was thinking “Are we going to win anything this year?” After that break, especially in April when we drew only one of about nine games, we were unstoppable. The most unstoppable I’ve felt. I just had so much belief.
‘It has been a whirlwind. For the first two or three weeks after I didn’t really take it in. Now it’s been a while and I’ve come to terms with it. They were the best few weeks of my life.’
Grealish spent a chunk of his summer training out in Dubai in, what he says, served as preparation for a gruelling trip to Asia in which Pep Guardiola has had to temper the intensity of his sessions given the humidity. He looks sharp – certainly one in the eye for those who complained of his post-season partying – and ready for more.
He does have a somewhat surprising goal though. Another Treble? ‘I’ve said to a few of the guys that I’m desperate to win the Community Shield,’ he added. ‘This is my third year here and I’ve lost two of those finals. I’m desperate.
‘As a footballer you want to win as much as possible but you
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