Jack Grealish has said his off-the-field partying was not the main reason that led him to leave Manchester City last summer, although he admitted it “didn’t help.”
Grealish joined Everton on a season-long loan and immediately rekindled his best form, providing four assists in his first five Premier League games.
It comes after a difficult season for the former England international, who had fallen out of favour under City boss Pep Guardiola.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said his main reason for leaving the Etihad was his desire to “feel loved” again.
“People go, ‘he likes to go out, he likes to party,’ and I do. I want to be able to live my life and enjoy myself but obviously there’s a time and a place to do that,” Grealish said.
“Sometimes, I’ll be honest with you, I probably haven’t picked the right times. At City, I didn’t help myself at times, I’ll openly say that, but then I don’t think it was all down to that.”
“I’m at my best when I feel loved,” he added.
“You know, I’m quite vulnerable off the pitch and I wanted to go somewhere to just feel the love again and just wake up with a smile on my face and want to play again.
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“I don’t mean this in an arrogant way but I do like it when managers say, ‘you’re the footballer, go and do what you want to do.’
“Obviously you have your jobs. You have your roles to do without the ball and set pieces but he says to me, ‘when you get the ball just go and do what you want to do.'”
Grealish is next in action when Everton face West Ham in the Premier League at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
