Grealish given glimpse of life as England's most expensive player in tough Man City debut

Pep Guardiola won’t have learnt a lot from Jack Grealish’s 25 minutes at Wembley.

But the £100 million ($139m) man will have gained an insight into what it’s like being the most expensive player in English football history.

In signing for Manchester City, the England international has gone from being the player opposition fans hated to love to the man they now love to hate.

At Aston Villa his impudence and style could be admired from afar, particularly when he gave one of the top six a bloody nose with his brilliance.

Now he’s part of the elite, there can only be acrimony.

City’s Community Shield defeat to Leicester will have given him an early taste of what is to come.

Booed when his name was announced at the start of the game, his every touch was jeered, his every stumble and bad touch cheered as the Foxes revelled in a return to Wembley and their first Community Shield victory in 50 years.

But this was no knee-jerk reaction to Grealish’s record-breaking transfer being confirmed fewer than 48 hours before kick-off, this is what he can expect for the future.

Just ask Raheem Sterling, who has been booed at every ground across the country since moving from Liverpool in controversial circumstances.

Or Riyad Mahrez, who was the Player of the Year when Leicester won a miracle title five years ago but was barracked at Wembley like he had consigned them to consecutive relegations.

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It wasn’t too long ago that Grealish was the nation’s darling, as England bustled their way to a European Championship final, but life is very different when you are a superstar at Premier League level.

Guardiola did not expect much of him in such a short turnaround, having only signed on Thursday, but there were fleeting glimpses of why he was such a priority for City.

He had a couple of neat dribbles, some tidy link-up with Bernardo Silva and Cole Palmer and two potentially threatening moments in the box, but his first-team debut passed off without too much incident.

“He didn’t come to play 25 minutes, he came to play five or six years,” Guardiola reflected after the game.

“How can he build a relation when his mates are not here? But it's not a problem, he knows Kyle [Walker] and Raz [Sterling] and Phil [Foden] and John [Stones] they are back tomorrow. We just need to provide him and let him express his quality.”

Guardiola was disappointed to miss out on silverware and, like most European managers, sees the Community Shield as a legitimate fourth trophy.

But with so many players only just back at the Etihad Campus after big roles at Euro 2020 and the Copa America, even he might be considering this match to be little more than a glorified friendly.

From the sidelines, Guardiola looked like he was having a relaxed afternoon in loose-fitting t-shirt, cargo trousers and sockless sneakers; Brendan Rodgers opted for a smart, navy suit and tie and crisp, white shirt.

And on the pitch, Leicester were at full strength while Guardiola’s starting XI contained only three of the players who were in the side for the Champions League defeat in Porto at the end of May, with Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne injured and the other English and Brazilian players to return to training next week.

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Eighteen-year-old winger Sam Edozie was handed a first-team debut while fellow academy product Palmer was given just the second start of his City career, and both impressed at times.

City did have the chances to win it, with Mahrez squandering the best opportunity, but it was another mistake from Nathan Ake that cost them when his clumsy challenge gave Kelechi Iheanacho a penalty when the game was heading towards a shootout.

"I would have loved to have won the game - congratulations to Leicester for the Community Shield victory,” the City boss said. "The performance was really really good, especially for this stage of the season and the way we played in the second half.

"In general given the short preparation time we had, all the loan players, all the academy players have been exceptional.

"The game was well played. They had chances, we had chances and in the second half we were so good."

Now comes the serious business with the Premier League opener against Tottenham just seven days away.

With Sterling, Stones, Walker, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus and Aymeric Laporte only just back in training this week, Guardiola will be relying on much of this Community Shield side - Grealish included.

The £100m man is getting a crash course in what it’s like to be at the top.