Robert Snodgrass told talkSPORT on Tuesday morning that he has ‘never seen’ a harder working player than Aston Villa’s ‘incredible’ talent, Jack Grealish.
The West Brom winger played alongside Grealish for one season when he was on loan at Villa during their days in the Championship.
It was during that campaign that Villa reached the Championship play-off final, only to lose to Fulham, but that has since been a blessing in disguise.
Snodgrass shared an insight into what Grealish is like behind the scenes and where he thinks he sits in this current England team.
“Oooof, would I start him? He would be my main man (for England),” said Snodgrass. “He’s incredible. Every time you watch him. Every single time you watch Jack Grealish, it seems like he’s getting better.
“A lot of people question him for a good few years about, and he knew that as well. He was coming back from injury when I was at Villa and people started questioning about how many goals and assists he gets.
“He came back from injury, and I am not joking I have never seen a harder working young talent than him. Declan Rice is another one. But Jack Grealish, for me, every kid should come in and try to watch him. I know there’s a lot of things off the park that people have spoken about.
“But that’s my pet hate. They speak about a lot of negatives. But nobody sees the hard work behind the scenes. That young kid works as hard as anyone I have seen. He’s in the gym until 6 or 7 o’clock every single night – honestly, I have never seen anything like him. He’s the closest to Gazza I have ever seen. If he plays then he will be one of the players of the tournament.”
Grealish will be hoping to start for England when they kick off their Euro 2020 opener against Croatia on Sunday.
Gareth Southgate has started the creative ball-carrier during England’s last two games, and he impressed during both friendly encounters.
Not so long ago, Grealish wasn’t a much-fancied figure by Southgate, but the more involved he becomes with England, the more previous critics see just how good he is.
Ideally, England fans would like to see both Grealish and Phil Foden on the same pitch, but a certain out-of-form and more experienced duo in Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford might stand in the way of that happening.
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