Aston Villa playmaker set up second goal against
Germany and would have been a club promoter in another life
Jack Grealish saunters over, a little tousled, looking as if he has just woken, which he confirms he has. It is 4.30pm at St George’s Park, the
England midfielder is late for his media interview – actually he is really late – and, deadlines being deadlines, his audience is shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah, every day, I have my afternoon nap … I ain’t the same man without it,” Grealish says, with a wink.
Everybody loosens up pretty quickly because how can you not? The Aston Villa captain has this effect on people, drawing them in, all easy confidence and quips and, over the next half hour or so, he tries to make sense of what is happening to him; specifically, how he has come to be the poster boy for England’s shot at Euro 2020 glory, which continues on Saturday with the quarter-final against
Ukraine in Rome.