Super Jack: the Jack Grealish story

Manchester City have signed England midfielder Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for a British record £100m.

The 25-year-old joins the Premier League champions on a six-year contract and will wear the number 10 shirt recently vacated by Sergio Aguero.

The fee surpasses the £89m Manchester United paid to re-sign midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016.

"City are the best team in the country with a manager considered to be the best in the world," said Grealish. "It's a dream come true to be part of this club."

Jack Grealish has the world at his feet but it hasn't been all plain sailing for the 25-year-old super-talented midfielder.

He has come a long way since his loan spell with lowly Notts County in 2013 as a skinny 18-year-old. After making his Villa debut in the 2014/2015 season, Jack came to life in the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool and helped his side progress to the final. However, Villa were relegated from the Premier League in the following season.

Playing under the radar in the Championship for three seasons, Jack found his talents were mainly hidden from wider world; however, the Villa faithful all knew he was a 24-carat diamond in the making. Becoming captain in March 2019 was the making of him as Jack led Villa to a record 10 straight wins and the club back into the big-time.

England beckoned and eventually came, making his debut in September 2020, and the country was astonished that our best player didn't play more minutes in England's run to the Euro 2020 Final against Italy.

Obviously Man City boss Pep Guardiola has more faith in him than England manager Gareth Southgate as was evident when he made him Britain's most expensive footballer ever in early August 2021.