Manchester City, who spent £100 million on Jack Grealish, appeared to be embracing their prosperity after winning the Treble, but they have already begun to wobble.

Pep Guardiola’s team began the season with six straight Premier League victories, but after losing their past two, there are already concerns about a regression from the season’s incredible highs.

Grealish, who is recovering from a dead leg he suffered against Sheffield United in August, only played ten minutes of those back-to-back defeats to Wolves and Arsenal. He entered the game as a late substitute at Molineux.

Ordinarily, an injury of that kind wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, especially for one of the most fouled players in history who has had far too many of them.

But according to Grealish, this one was so awful that Max Sala, the England player, could hardly walk. It was the worst that the club doctor at City had ever seen.

Prior to this Friday’s friendly match against Australia, the 28-year-old provided an intriguing explanation of how the issue has damaged his season.

“It was the most painful injury I have had, aside from the kidney injury I had six years ago,” Grealish disclosed.

Even though it was just a dead leg, you guys might be laughing at me now because it was the worst dead leg I have ever had.

“Over the years, I have received a lot of them, and I am typically able to handle the blows and other stuff.

“The blood, if you have a bad one, is about 6cm if you have a dead leg and a haematoma (where trauma affects veins or arteries). 20 cm was mine!

That is by far the worst dead leg our doctor at City, who has worked at AC Milan and other places, has ever seen.

“The tackle wasn’t even that bad. Ollie McBurnie faced off against Sheff U. You would say, “Get up,” if I showed you the tackle right now. Even the appearance isn’t that horrible.

It hurt after the game. However, as soon as I got on the coach, I said to the doctor, “Nah, I need something here.”

“After that, I tried to get off the coach and head back to City’s training ground, but I was honestly unable to walk.” I had to buy things like crutches. It hurt more than I had ever felt.

After using crutches for a few days, the former Aston Villa player Grealish had trouble bending his leg, which made it impossible for him to perform regular cardiovascular training, like riding an exercise bike, for three and a half weeks.

It clarifies why, despite being pain-free, he still does not feel completely recovered and believes that the few minutes he has played since suffering the injury have essentially served as a “mini pre-season.”

The winger had never before suffered back-to-back league losses at City, and that shakiness has some doubting whether Guardiola’s team still has the same zeal following their historic victory last season.

Grealish, who was part of the team eliminated from the League Cup by Newcastle last month, did allude to the psychological effects of having seemingly no more worlds to explore.

“I’m not saying it’s hard to get motivated. You can’t say that,” he stated. However, when you’ve done it, you could be wondering, “What now?”

“To accomplish something we have never done would have been nice.” We are already eliminated from the Carabao Cup, but perhaps we should win all four and include the Cup as well.

Then, perhaps, there was an attempt to have an unbeatable season, but we were defeated by Wolves, so that was also unsuccessful.

It is distinct. Never before have I recovered from a season like the one I had.”

Even though they have lost recently, City is only two points behind surprise league leaders Tottenham and often gets off to a poor start.

However, consecutive losses are so uncommon for a Guardiola team that it may be viewed as a catastrophe.

However, Grealish retaliated when that word was spoken, saying, “Come on! None at all.

Of course, I’ve never seen City lose two straight games. However, it is not at all a crisis.

“The season got off to a fantastic start for us. Although we lost the Community Shield, we went on to win the Super Cup. After that, we won six straight, with the last two clearly being losses.

“We have really missed Rodri. That is beyond dispute.

“For myself, I’ve tried to do tiny extra workouts after training to try to assist myself get back to full health since I’m coming (to England) this week.

“I think I can benefit any team in the world, whether it’s City or England, when I’m in shape.

“I need to get back into that starting lineup as soon as I return to City because I was playing every game at the end of the previous season, and that’s how I want it to be.”

He might expedite his recovery with a start against the Australians on Tuesday, followed by Italy.

Next week, England will play the Azzurri at Wembley for the first time since they were defeated there on penalties during Euro 2020.

Grealish claims to mostly recall every game he has played, although that one is still a bit of a haze.

He, along with players like Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Marcus Rashford, are hoping to win the trophy at the upcoming European Championship in Germany in the summer to atone for that devastating loss.

Without putting too much pressure on ourselves, he continued, “We just have so much talent, so this is one we really look at to go into and try and win the tournament.”

Just of how incredible it would be for the nation. It wouldn’t be credible. It does seem like our time.