Man City star Grealish tells Souness & other critical pundits to leave him alone

• One of most scrutinised PL players
• Feels he is targeted in the media
• Aware that transfer fee plays a part

WHAT HAPPENED? When a footballer costs £100m, there is always going to be plenty of scrutiny in the media, which can wear a player down. That certainly seems to be the case with Grealish after his record-breaking move from Aston Villa to Manchester City. He has called for pundits - Graeme Souness in particular - to leave him alone and let him get him on with his football.

WHAT HE SAID: “I often feel like I just do exactly the same things as the other players, but people talk about them because it is me doing them…that’s exactly what I said in relation to Souness: he always has something to say about me," the England winger told L'Equipe. “And he responded by saying I can’t take criticism. Today, we, the footballers, if we allow ourselves to respond to something said about us, we are portrayed as if we are people who cannot stand criticism.

"Sometimes I want to say to them (English media), leave me alone a bit and focus on someone else, so that I can focus on my game. Because there is always this noise around me, generated by articles or other things. It is undoubtedly linked to my style of play and the fact that I play in one of the biggest clubs in the world. I imagine also that the fee that Manchester City paid for me to Aston Villa contributes to this attention also.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Much of the criticism angled at Grealish is based on his statistics for Manchester City. In 51 games for the Premier League champions in all competitions, he has scored seven goals and registered four assists.

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WHAT NEXT FOR GREALISH? As he has done so often previously, Grealish must now back up his off-field talking with his performances on the pitch. He and his team-mates are preparing for a trip to King Power Stadium on Saturday where they face Leicester before hosting Sevilla in the Champions League.