Jack Grealish once revealed what line of profession he would have gone down if football hadn’t worked out.
The 27-year-old Manchester City forward, who recently lifted the Champions League trophy with Pep Guardiola’s treble-winners, joined Aston Villa when he was just six-years-old from local side Highgate United.
He graduated through the club’s youth system before spending the 2013/14 campaign on loan at Notts County. He then made his Villa debut in May 2014, when he came on as an 88th minute substitute against his next club.
After making over 200 appearances for his boyhood club, the Birmingham-born forward joined current Premier League champions City for a British record £100 million in August 2021.
So what would Grealish be doing if he wasn’t a professional footballer? In an interview with The Guardian in 2021, he was asked that exact question.
“If I wasn’t a footballer and I was just with my mates, I would just be doing what they’re doing,” he began.
“I’d be travelling everywhere watching England, being in pubs and stuff. I think I’d be at BoxPark. I’ve seen a few videos of that and it looked unreal.
“I’m just a normal kid and, as I’ve grown up [in football], that’s probably one of the hardest things.
“I speak to my family about it all the time because when I go out and do stuff and I look at what my friends are doing… I’d love to be like that sometimes and just go and do stuff.”
Grealish added: “Of course, I’ve made mistakes. When I first came on the scene, no one knew me and I could do anything I wanted to and then, playing in the FA Cup semi-final and final for Villa [as a 19-year-old in 2015]… everyone knew who I was.
“It was difficult to deal with but I have matured so much. Deep down, I am still the same Jack. I will never not be that person.”
Then, when asked what line of profession he would have gone down if football hadn’t worked out, he replied: “I couldn’t be a plasterer,” before adding: “I’d be a club promoter. Tenerife or Ibiza. I would be getting everyone into the club.”
So there we have it. Grealish might have been wandering the streets of Spain as a club promoter this summer if his career in professional football didn’t materialise.
Jack Grealish had to be held up by Kyle Walker as he left their hotel in Ibiza on Monday morning, before being offered a wheelchair by staff at the airport.😂 pic.twitter.com/1chmyIE8cf
— PurelyFootball ℗ (@PurelyFootball) June 12, 2023
Last month, Erling Haaland revealed the two jobs he would be doing if he wasn’t a footballer.
In an interview with Sky Sports, he said his best friend in football was Jack Grealish before describing Kevin De Bruyne as the greatest player he’d shared a pitch with.
He then suggested he would be either be a “welder or a farmer” in a different life.
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