Heartwarming moment Jack Grealish is surprised by a young Aston Villa fan asking for his signature – as the winger asks ‘you still like me though?’ after leaving boyhood club for £100m Man City move
- Man City held an open training session prior to Tuesday’s friendly vs Barcelona
- Pep Guardiola’s side have lost both of their opening pre-season friendleis
- Jack Grealish had returned to pre-season training earlier than other players
A heartwarming moment occurred after Manchester City’s open training session in Florida on Monday as Jack Grealish was surprised by an Aston Villa fan who ran over to the pitch to ask for his signature.
City have suffered defeat in both of their opening pre-season matches, losing 4-3 to Celtic last week, before suffering a 3-2 defeat by AC Milan on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola‘s side are set to face off against his old club, Barcelona, in Florida on Tuesday night and have been hard at work preparing to make amends for their previous two defeats in America.
After Monday’s open training session, several players went to sign autographs, with Grealish being surprised by a young supporter wearing an Aston Villa shirt.
The fan rushed towards the City winger in his claret and blue jersey with Grealish saying: ‘Are you a Villa fan?’ To which the supporter appeared to reply saying: ‘Yes’.
Jack Grealish (left) was seen in a heartwarming clip on social media greeting an Aston Villa fan and signing his shirt
The moment came during Man City’s open training session in Florida on Monday afternoon
In 2021, Grealish became the first English footballer to cost £100million, following his landmark move from his boyhood club, Villa, to Man City.
The 28-year-old then said to the young supporter: ‘You still like me though?’ To which the fan appeared to again say: ‘Yes’ before Grealish smiled and signed his shirt.
While Man City’s players appear to have been working hard on their pre-season tour of the USA, they have also been enjoying several tourist attractions in Florida – with a group of players taking a vistit to Universal Studios Orlando over the weekend.
A video posted on City’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, showed a group, including Erling Haaland and Grealish in the theme park appearing to have a conversation with an animatronic figure of Donkey from Shrek.
Donkey appears to joke with Grealish about the size of his calves, stating that he was impressed by them, before telling the winger that he looked like Lord Farquaad from the iconic DreamWorks film.
Grealish (left) appeared to ask the Villa fan ‘if they still liked him’, despite the winger moving away from his boyhood club in 2021 to join Man City
The pair shook hands after the foodballer had signed the supporter’s Aston Villa shirt
Grealish was also pictured enjoying some down time in the states this week, having attended a trip to Universal Studios, where he met actors playing Shrek, Fiona and Donkey
Grealish, though, appears to have been working hard over the summer to try and get back to his best form.
It comes after the City star endured an underwhelming season that had been littered with injuries – with Grealish also being omitted from Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 England squad.
The 28-year-old has been seen working on his fitness in recent weeks and has been out in Portugal training on his own.
And it appears his England snub has been a motivator for the former Aston Villa star, with Grealish admitting that he was ‘heartbroken’ not to be called up to play for the Three Lions in Germany.
‘It’s down to me at the end of the day,’ Grealish said. ‘I need to train well and prepare well and I know I’ll be at my best.
‘I’ll be honest, it was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in terms of my own career. I was absolutely heartbroken,’ he said on his omission from Southgate’s squad.
The 28-year-old returned to pre-season training earlier than his team-mates as he looks to improve on his underwhelming 2023-24 season
Grealish (right) has played in both of Man City’s opening pre-season matches, with his side suffering a defeat by AC Milan and a defeat by Celtic
‘When you’re on your holidays, wherever I was I saw it. For myself moving forward I have to use that as motivation.
‘I’ll try to have the same mentality I had two years ago. My first season at City I don’t think I performed as well as I could. The second I played a lot of games. I wanted to come back stronger.’
