"He said to me..." - Grealish says Shaw has noticed a key difference between Man Utd and Man City players

Jack Grealish says Luke Shaw had outlined a key difference between England's Manchester City stars and players from other clubs including Manchester United.

England qualified from their group with relative ease, securing top spot with a 3-0 win over Wales on Tuesday.

The win has set up a last-16 tie with AFCON champions Senegal, who finished second in Group A, behind Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands side.

England’s star-studded 26-man squad contains players from the Premier League’s biggest clubs, including a large contingent from rivals Man City and Man Utd.

Gareth Southgate selected three Man Utd players for the Qatar World Cup - Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire. Meanwhile reigning Premier League champions Man City are represented by Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden and Grealish.

Key difference

Grealish revealed there was a noticeable and key difference between the Man City players and the rest of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.

The winger, who cost Man City £100million, claimed as per the Express: “Luke Shaw said to me, when I come away with England you can tell who the City lads are.'

“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘You always have a ball, you always want a ball.’

“It’s true. Me, even Kyle, Phil - we’re just always wanting a ball, whether it be back home, at the camp, or here. Lads will just be doing stretches and that, getting ready for training or playing basketball and me and Phil will just be playing two-touch.

“We get that from being at City.”

Grealish then acknowledged that he had never experienced another dressing room with the same desire to have the ball.

The England man said: “At Villa, they’d be sitting there on their phones. Whereas at City, you’re sitting there and balls are going flying across the changing room.

“It’s people playing two-touch. I think it’s the culture at City, where everyone just loves to have a football and we bring that here.”

The FA shared a video of Grealish and Foden showcasing their skills last month at St George’s Park, before flying to Qatar. The clip has already clocked over 1 million views.

Grealish said: “Too right! Did you see the tekkers? It was good. Me and Phil do that all the time.

“It just comes natural to us. We have always got a ball at our feet and we have a good connection, we’re close friends. It was a nice little video.”

Topics: Football, Jack Grealish, Luke Shaw, Manchester United, Manchester City, England, Football World Cup

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.