Little spark from Grealish in a City side lacking pace

LONDON • Manchester City's new £100 million (S$188 million) signing Jack Grealish sparkled briefly on his debut but faded along with his teammates, as the English Premier League champions began the new season with a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday.

The most expensive English top-flight player made a lively start and almost earned a penalty, with one jinking run ended on the edge of the area by Tottenham midfielder Oliver Skipp.

But it turned into a frustrating afternoon for the former Aston Villa captain and the England playmaker marked his debut not with a goal or an assist but a yellow card.

Grealish was not the only City player to struggle as few of Pep Guardiola's side were in top gear, against a Tottenham team who grew into the game and deserved the win sealed by Son Heung-min's goal on the counter-attack.

Even with an array of attacking threats on the pitch and £340 million worth of talent on the bench, City were listless and lacking a cutting edge.

If anything, the display will make the signing of absent Spurs striker Harry Kane even more pressing for the City hierarchy - whatever the cost now that Sergio Aguero is no longer an option for Guardiola.

Guardiola would not get drawn into the Kane debate - Spurs want £150 million for the England captain - but praised Grealish despite a tepid first outing.

"He was excellent. He played with a personality and created chances. Unfortunately, we could not win for him for his debut but he played really well," the Catalan said. "In terms of give me the ball, he doesn't lose the ball, he is so dangerous close to the box."

City became only the third champions in the Premier League era to lose their first game of the new campaign and some of their players looked off the pace while Kevin de Bruyne was left on the bench until late on, having only just returned to training.

City have now lost all four games they have played at Tottenham's new stadium without scoring, including three in the league, but Guardiola insisted the loss was just a mere hiccup.

"Spurs are a tough rival for us, always I have the feeling that we are good here but we cannot get results because they punish you in transitions," he said. "Most of the players have 90 minutes in the legs, we have a long week to prepare to face Norwich (on Saturday) and hopefully, the players can come back step by step.

"I see very, very good things. I know the result is not good but I saw many, many good things that will help us in the future to get better."

Pundit Graeme Souness questioned whether the £100 million spent on Grealish would have been better put towards a mega-bid for Kane.

"City need a goalscorer. It's not rocket science," he added. "They need a proper centre-forward who will get them 20 goals a season. They got away with it last year. City are going to come up against this time and time again."

However, fellow pundit Micah Richards claimed Grealish had simply yet to "find his groove".

"When you have the £100 million tag, it's going to stay with you forever. But once (Phil) Foden and Kevin de Bruyne are back, he'll get into the groove. Grealish wasn't at his best today... but you've got to give him time."

REUTERS