Man City fans claim Jack Grealish is now playing well because one player is no longer in the team
They've come up with a theory.
Jack Grealish has been sent a clear message from Manchester City supporters regarding Joao Cancelo following the defender's move to Bayern Munich.
Cancelo, 28, joined the German club on loan in January after a rumoured fall out with Pep Guardiola regarding the Portuguese international's playing time at the Etihad.
Speaking to Portuguese outlet O Jogo, Cancelo said: "As I already said, he [Guardiola] found a way to play, after the World Cup, in which he started playing with a full-back more inside, where I also played, and he liked what he saw with Rico [Lewis] and Nathan [Ake].
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"But I think a player is always a bit selfish. Any player wants to feel important, wants to play and anyone who says otherwise is lying.
"A competitive player, like me, who aspires to win titles, just wants to play. It's not a question of devaluing my team-mates. But I thought I deserved to play and he didn't.
"So we talked, it was a conversation, not a discussion, and we decided that the best thing would be for me to leave this market."
While the form of Cancelo is yet to take flight in a Bayern shirt with just 371 minutes of action to his name, his former City teammate Jack Grealish is currently thriving in Manchester.
The England international has scored four goals and provided five assists in 22 games for City this season - relatively low figures which do not accurately reflect his growing importance to the team.
Grealish has produced several big performances for City in recent weeks, including a man-of-the-match outing against Liverpool on Saturday in which he scored the final goal in a 4-1 win for Guardiola's side.
City fans are now linking his upturn in form with the departure of Cancelo.
"Say it very quietly but Jack Grealish has took his game to a different level ever since Cancelo left," added another.
A third wrote: "Cancelo was holding him back."
"Cancelo technically better than him, with Ake being him he probably feels less pressure," added another.
Grealish will hope to continue his fine form when City return to action against struggling Southampton on Saturday.
City then host Cancelo's current team, Bayern Munich, in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday.
Topics: Manchester City, Jack Grealish, Joao Cancelo, Premier League, Football
Patrick Rowe