As far as football controversies go, the Jack Grealish – Miguel Almiron saga really has stretched on for far too long.
For the uninitiated, it all kicked off after Grealish, in a bit of a drunken haze, compared fellow teammate Riyad Mahrez to Newcastle United‘s Almiron during Man City‘s PL parade.
With the intent of playfully mocking his teammate’s performance against Aston Villa, Grealish said, “Riyad, take him off as soon as possible, he played like Almiron.”
Needless to say, the comment was completely unnecessary, and it led to plenty of deserved criticism.
The Toon Army was on Grealish’s case almost instantly, even the wider Footballing community saw plenty to dislike in his antics.
This carried on for months, and in recent weeks, Newcastle supporters have flipped the comparison on its head by using it to mock Grealish instead.
The turnaround is a result of Almiron’s scintillating form for the Magpies’, all while his City counterpart has been struggling for gametime at City.
Despite it being months since the initial comments, fans have refused to let it go.
Fortunately, the end appears in sight, and it all has to do with an official apology from Grealish himself.
Currently, at the World Cup with England, the 27-year-old touched on the subject during an interview with the Independent.
Expressing his regrets, Grealish said, “That was one thing I regret. He (Almiron) said something about me in the interview the other day when he wished me the best. I thought ‘what a guy’ because if somebody had said that about me, I’d have probably been the other way and been like ‘f**k it’.”
“I messaged Matt Targett because I’m close with him from Villa and I said to him ‘can you message him for me and say to him that I apologize, I obviously didn’t mean it’. Matt said ‘he’s a lovely kid and that he’s harmless and doesn’t really speak a lot.”
Acknowledging the slack he received from fans, Grealish added,
“I didn’t realize it was a video to go out, I thought it was just private.
But even in private, I shouldn’t have said it because he’s a fellow professional. I’m actually buzzing for him this season. I’ve had a lot of stick off the Newcastle fans and rightly so.”
With an official apology issued and some pretty evident regret on display, this matter is finally done and dusted.
