Satisfied despite fewer scorers
Manchester City made Jack Grealish (26) the first English footballer to cost more than 100 million euros last summer. Coach Pep Guardiola’s team transferred 117.5 million euros to Aston Villa for the Birmingham club’s homegrown team, which has never won a professional title.
“Pressure is a big thing in football, especially for me who came here with this price tag – and because I’m English,” Grealish said in an interview with the “Daily Mail“. Man City bought the Euro 2020 fan favorite in their own country and made him the most expensive Englishman ever. Three of the six most expensive transfers of English players took place last summer.
Sancho in 3rd place, Beckham in 16th place: Most expensive Englishman in football history
39. Jude Bellingham – Birmingham City > BVB – fee: €25m
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Transfer: 2020/21 (as of March 20, 2022)
38. Marc Guehi – Chelsea > Crystal Palace – fee: €23.34M
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Transfer: 2021/22
37. Darren Bent – Charlton Athletic > Tottenham – fee: €24.75M
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Transfer: 2007/08
34. Michael Owen – Real Madrid > Newcastle United – fee: €25M
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Transfer: 2005/06
34. Owen Hargreaves – Bayern Munich > Man United – fee: €25M
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Transfer: 2007/08
34. James Maddison – Norwich > Leicester – fee: €25M
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Transfer: 2018/19
33. Danny Ings – Liverpool FC > Southamptopn – fee: €25.1M
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Transfer: 2019/20
32. Rio Ferdinand – West Ham > Leeds United – fee: €26M
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Transfer: 2000/01
31. Rhian Brewster v Liverpool FC > Sheffield Utd. – Transfer fee: €26m
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Transfer: 2020/21
30. Ryan Sessegnon – Fulham > Tottenham – fee: €27M
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Transfer: 2019/20
29. Michael Carrick – Tottenham > Man United – fee: €27.2M
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Transfer: 2006/07
28. Joleon Lescott – Everton > Man City – fee: €27.5M
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Transfer: 2009/10
27. Ben Godfrey – Norwich > Everton – fee: €27.5M
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Transfer: 2020/21
26. Aaron Ramsdale – Sheffield United > Arsenal – fee: €28M
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Transfer: 2021/22
25. Jordan Pickford – Sunderland > Everton – fee: €28.5m
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Transfer: 2017/18
24. Michael Keane – Burnley > Everton – fee: €28.5M
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Transfer: 2017/18
23. Fikayo Tomori – Chelsea > AC Milan – fee: €29.2M
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Transfer: 2021/22
21. Joe Willock – Arsenal > Newcastle – fee: €29.4M
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21. Danny Ings – Southampton > Aston Villa – fee: €29.4M
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Transfer: 2021/22
20. Adam Lallana – Southampton > Liverpool FC – fee: €31M
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Transfers: 2014/15
19. Shaun Wright-Philipps – Man City > Chelsea – fee: €31.5M
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Transfer: 2005/06
18. Ollie Watkins – Brentford > Aston Villa – fee: €34m
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Transfer: 2020/21
17. Wayne Rooney – Everton > Man United – fee: €37M
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Transfer: 2004/05
16. David Beckham – Man United > Real Madrid – fee: €37.5M
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Transfer: 2003/04
15. Luke Shaw – Southampton > Man United – fee: €37.5M
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Transfers: 2014/15
14. Danny Drinkwater – Leicester City > Chelsea – fee: €37.9M
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Transfer: 2017/18
13. Tammy Abraham – Chelsea > AS Roma – fee: €40M
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Transfer: 2021/22
12. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Arsenal > Liverpool FC – fee: €38M
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Transfer: 2017/18
11. Andy Carroll – Newcastle United > Liverpool FC – fee: €41M
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Transfer: 2010/11
10. Rio Ferdinand – Leeds United > Man United – fee: €46M
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Transfer: 2002/03
9. Ben Chilwell – Leicester > Chelsea – fee: €50.2M
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Transfer: 2020/21
8. Kyle Walker – Tottenham > Man City – fee: €52.7M
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Transfer: 2017/18
7. Aaron Wan-Bissaka – Crystal Palace > Man United – fee: €55M
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Transfer: 2019/20
6. John Stones – Everton > Man City – fee: €55.6M
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Transfers: 2016/17
5. Ben White – Brighton > Arsenal – fee: €58.5M
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Transfer: 2021/22
4. Raheem Sterling – Liverpool FC > Man City – fee: €63.7M
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Transfers: 2015/16
3. Jadon Sancho – BVB > Man United – fee: €85m
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Transfer: 2021/22
2. Harry Maguire – Leicester City > Man United – fee: €87M
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Transfer: 2019/20
1. Jack Grealish – Aston Villa > Man City – fee: €117.5M
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Transfer: 2021/22
Despite only having seven goals in 32 games and a back-and-forth between the starting XI and the bench, the winger is satisfied with his first season away from Aston Villa: “It’s no secret that I would have liked to have scored and prepared more, but I think I have played well”.
His weakest yield since 2015/16, when Grealish was still acting as Jokaer, is also due to the change associated with the transfer. Birmingham and Manchester are only separated by about 140 kilometers of motorway, but a lot was new for him: “When I arrived here, it was different from Villa or the national team – you have the same culture there, you have the same nationality because most of the boys are English. And here it’s only four or five of us who are English.”
Man City: Grealish wants to win the Champions League
The biggest goal this season seems to be the Champions League – ahead of the English championship. “Most of the guys here have won everything, several times in fact, so I think it’s the ‘premier class’ that everyone wants this year. (…) We haven’t won that yet, so we’re keeping our eyes on it.” The “Citizens” can still win the treble of championship, Champions League and FA Cup. In the league it’s a neck-and-neck race with Liverpool, which you also meet in the cup – in the “premier class” there’s no reunion with Jürgen Klopp’s Reds until the final at the earliest.
Expectations are high for football’s most valuable squad and Grealish takes the advice of his former youth coach Steve Burns: “Pressure is a privilege.”
All treble winners in Europe: from Celtic Glasgow to FC Bayern
From 1967 to 2021 there were 14 treble winners…
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Heynckes was there as a coach in 2013.
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Scottish Division one: 58 points / Scottish FA Cup: Celtic 2-0 Aberdeen
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European Champion Clubs’ Cup: Celtic 2-1 Inter
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Eredivisie: 63 points / KNVB beker: Ajax 3: 2 FC Den Haag
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European Champion Clubs’ Cup: Ajax 2-0 Inter
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Fotbollsallsvenskan: 29 points / Allsvenskan: IFK Gothenburg 1-2 Hammarby, Hammarby 1-3 IFK
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UEFA Cup: IFK Gothenburg 1:0 HSV, HSV 0:3 IFK Gothenburg
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Eredivisie: 59 points / KNVB beker: PSV 3: 2 aet Roda JC
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European Champion Clubs’ Cup: PSV 6:5 nE Benfica
Manchester United 1998/99
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Premier League: 79 points / FA Cup: Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle
Manchester United 1998/99
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Champions League: Manchester United 2: 1 FC Bayern Munich
Galatasaray Istanbul 1999/00
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Superlig: 79 points / Turkiye Kupasi: Alanyaspor 3: 5 nE Galatasaray
Galatasaray Istanbul 1999/00
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UEFA Cup: Galatasaray 4-1 aet Arsenal
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Liga Nos: 86 points / Taça de Portugal: FC Porto 1-0 Leiria
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UEFA Cup: FC Porto 3-2 aet Celtic
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Premier League: 62 points / Russian Cup: CSKA Moscow 1-0 Khimki
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UEFA Cup: CSKA Moscow 3:1 Sporting Lisbon
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La Liga: 87 points / Copa del Rey: FC Barcelona 4-1 Athletic
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Champions League: FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United
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Serie A: 82 points / Coppa Italia: Inter 1-0 AS Roma
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Champions League: Inter 2:0 FC Bayern Munich
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Liga Nos: 84 points / Taça de Portugal: FC Porto 6-2 Vitoria Guimarães
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Europa League: FC Porto 1-0 Braga
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Bundesliga: 91 points / DFB Cup: FC Bayern 3: 2 VfB Stuttgart
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Champions League: FC Bayern 2: 1 Borussia Dortmund
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La Liga: 94 points / Copa del Rey: FC Barcelona 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
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Champions League: FC Barcelona 3-1 Juventus
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Bundesliga: 82 points / DFB Cup: Bayer Leverkusen 2: 4 FC Bayern
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Champions League: PSG 0: 1 FC Bayern
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