ONE footballer who seems to find himself in the news quite a lot at the minute is Manchester City and England star Jack Grealish.
The flamboyant wide player has quickly become the poster boy of English football, and already comparisons are being made between the former Villa skipper and Inter Miami chief David Beckham.
One of the most immediate comparisons you can draw where Grealish and Beckham are concerned is that Man City, who Grealish plies his trade, and Manchester United, who Beckham starred, were both teams you expected to win when engaging in Premier League betting online. So, in that respect, you could suggest that in terms of winning and securing titles and trophies, Grealish is now on the same path as Beckham was during his heyday when United were the dominant force in English football.But, let’s face it, it’s not really on the pitch where most comparisons are being made about Grealish and Beckham. What Beckham did, much to Sir Alex Ferguson’s fury at times, was went from being a footballer to becoming a celebrity. And, while you could say that Grealish isn’t there yet, he’s certainly on that path, as he seems to make front page news more and more, with paparazzi keen to follow him wherever he goes, as seen recently during a pre-season trip to the US alongside friends. This is precisely the path Beckham once walked, and now Grealish appears to be well down the same road.
Something that helped to catapult Beckham into the public eye more and more was the fact that he was brandable and marketable. Beckham worked with some of the world’s leading brands, which has continued since calling time on his playing career. And Grealish is brandable and marketable in the same way and has already attracted some of the top brands around, with the likes of Gucci now working with the £100 million man. You could also argue that this is more favourable to Grealish now than it was to Beckham as a player because of how popular social media and marketing via influencers have become.
As mentioned above, Grealish is heavily involved in fashion now, but like Beckham, another element he’s almost become renowned for is his haircut. Back in the day, everyone wanted to have the same hairstyle as Beckham, and when the former England captain changed his up, so did countless others, even when he had the mohawk. Grealish puts a lot of effort into maintaining his hairstyle and makes tweaks here and there, with him instantly recognisable because of it. And with him having a lot of fans out there, many of them are now adopting the Grealish look.
It’d be unfair to describe Grealish as the new Beckham because he’s very much his own man and a bit of an enigma. But you can certainly make comparisons, and Grealish has achieved similar things off the pitch in terms of celebrity status and brand deals. It’ll be interesting to see if he can do similar on the pitch too, and how that pays off for him during his playing career and the years after.
