Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admits Jack Grealish felt the pressure of his £100million transfer fee.
The midfielder scored his first goal of the season in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Wolves to address growing criticism over his production.
It was just his fourth top goal for City since arriving for a club-record fee from Aston Villa last year and Guardiola conceded it weighed on him.
He said, “Yeah, maybe. We have to admit it. He has to be who he is, that’s all. Good times, bad times everyone has.
“The important thing is ‘I am Jack Grealish, I play as I am. I go there with a good mentality and I try to do my best to help all of us”. That’s all I want for him and for everyone.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden also scored while Nathan Collins was sent off for Wolves for a careless foul on Grealish.
Guardiola also gave Manuel Akanji his Premier League debut and was impressed with the summer signing from Dortmund.
He said: “He was more than exceptional, won every duel in the build-up, read perfectly when the game was short or long, he’s so, so smart and when he goes he goes, but he does not go too far to give penalties or fouls.
“He is so aggressive to get close to the opponent but then has the pace to control the situation. From day one, we felt he understood.
The defeat left Wolves to score just three goals in seven Premier League games this season, winning only once.
Diego Costa is out of form after signing a free transfer last week and boss Bruno Lage admits their lack of goals is a concern.
“When you don’t score goals it’s a worry. That’s why we have these three strikers but unfortunately no one is available to play the game,” he said.
“Man City can very well play without a striker for four or five years and win competitions, for us it’s more important to have this man.
“Raul (Jimenez) didn’t have pre-season so he has to play three games in a row because we don’t have a solution.”
