Jack Grealish is ‘almost unplayable’ insists Rio Ferdinand who has praised the Manchester City star

Rio Ferdinand insists Jack Grealish is a ‘super talent’ for Manchester City and that the forward is now hitting his stride at the Etihad Stadium.

Grealish has struggled to nail down a regular starting spot since joining the Premier League champions 18 months ago for £100m from Aston Villa but has started to enjoy regular starts in the first-team under Pep Guardiola.

The forward was selected in the XI again on Wednesday night for City’s 1-1 Champions League draw at RB Leipzig, playing a crucial role in the opening goal.

After a Leipzig opponent gave the ball away the England international was quick to intercept and play a through ball cleverly diverted on by Ilkay Gundogan before Riyad Mahrez slotted home.

But Ferdinand was keen to point out he contributed more in the attack, praising the 27-year-old for his agility while on the ball.  

‘He has times when he takes his time. When he changes the rhythm of the game, slows it down then speeds it up and releases, he is almost unplayable when he does that,’ Ferdinand told BT Sport.

‘When he slows it down and plays one paced, it allows defenders to come across. He is a super talent and he is starting to get goals and assists and impact big games. Long may it continue.’

Fellow BT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves was also in agreement with Ferdinand over the technical ability that Grealish offers to City and that he can be impossible to defend against.

‘He is such a fabulous player Jack’, Hargreaves said. ‘He is such a good carrier of the ball. I think he is unplayable when he plays like some of the clips we see here.

‘If he does everything in one, two, three touches, I don’t think you can stop him. He picked his time to come off the left. When he makes his mind up, he is pretty much impossible to play against.’

Former City player Hargreaves though insisted City overall ‘lacked intensity’ in Germany during their first-leg draw, after failing to kill off the game in the first half before allowing the hosts a route back in the second period during an entertaining contest.

City fans thought they should have been awarded a penalty following a highly controversial penalty shout in stoppage time that VAR had refused to look at.

But one conclusive replay showed a ball played towards Benjamin Henrichs had hit the lively substitute’s shoulder despite another angle appearing to show him punch the ball clear of his face.