Yeah, having Iwobi, Willock & ESR on the bench is much better for squad health.
Selling these players looked right at the time but we didn’t replace them in our squad.
I think there are a couple players that were moved on(or let go) in that time that Arteta would have liked to have, at least early on.
I think Welbeck may have ended up lasting as long as Elneny did had he we given him a new contract at the time.
Can’t keep them all and in all fairness we had what was considered decent money for Iwobi at the time.
Got good money for Iwobi, ESR and Willick. I’m happy with that and wouldn’t want any of them back in our squad.
ESR is the only one I felt would have contributed to our season but even then we got good money for someone with his injury history and consistency.
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In the case of ESR and Nketiah, it’s worth pointing out that there was a push from above to start making some decent sales.
And before someone criticises Kroenke’s for it, we’re not the only club that has been forced to do so, and if we’re being honest it’s an aspect we haven’t been forced to do as much before.
If people truly believe as much as they say they do in Nwaneri, they shouldn’t be too unhappy with our decision to let ESR go.
correction - within all PL players
Just saw that, and was thinking of sharing it to support Trio’s claim, but then I thought “is Grealish really the bar?!” 
lol
Hes not really. But also hes one of only 3 or 4 players to ever cost 100m in the league so i think it’s helpful to illustrate the point.
That’s a fair point, easy to forget how much he cost.
I fucking hate Grealish but tbf to him, he’d have more G/As if he stayed at Villa
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Maybe. He didn’t though.
Sure. It’s still an ultra-selective comparison. Specifically picking a “star” in a specific unadvantageous situation to try and make a point.
I like Iwobi and happy to see him do well but this comparison doesn’t really serve much purpose.
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Yea, of course it is. Its a three line tweet.
Yeah, being a part of a team like City and not playing that much in these last two seasons din’t help him much.
But still, what Grealish has produced for City in 2022/23 alone, maybe their best season ever, winning the CL too, being one of their better players that season is something Iwobi can only dream about in his wildest dreams.
I hope Grealish leaves City soon and shows how good he really is again. He’s a superb player.
We don’t know how Grealish would have faired had he stayed longer at Villa.
A factor that people need to consider is how much he benefitted by playing under Dean Smith.
The team was built around him and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted.
Perhaps Dean wouldn’t have lost his job if Jack stayed but perhaps he still gets the sack and the next guy changes their system drastically and we see the same Grealish we see for England and City.
There’s a pretty strong chance he has a larger role than he does at City. With a different manager, he would still be one of the main guys and be given more scope to have an influence on the game. He’s always going to be well down the pecking order at City.
Even Jack said it himself, in his first year at City he was essentially told to focus purely on retaining the ball rather than any game-breaking type plays.
Sure, we will never know for sure but ask any fan a couple of years ago if they’d have Grealish or Iwobi and I’m pretty sure the results wouldn’t be close.
Pep coached the personality out of Grealish.
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Why do his other players thrive then?
Is he telling him to not be productive?
Maybe Grealish is someone who had a spark but just never kicked on, he won’t be the last.
I see Savinho show plenty of personality every time he’s on the pitch and I doubt it’ll change
Some players don’t mind working with instructions all the time, while some do.
Grealish seems like a guy who would prefer doing things off the cuff rather than measuring his moves.