Erling Haaland feels no pressure to perform at Manchester City, despite his huge billing, and it's all thanks to new teammate Jack Grealish.
Haaland will be the headline act when the Premier League champions meet runners up Liverpool in the Community Shield in just over a week's time, especially now everyone knows he's not got a broken leg.
There will be intrigue over many other signings, especially Darwin Nunez, but the big Norwegian's performances in England, having moved from Borussia Dortmund, will be what most are interested in.
Advert
Whilst that might be a lot to take in for some, and plenty haven't hit the ground running when moving to England, the 22-year-old is apparently unphased.
Grealish has revealed that he's looking forward to teaming up with his new colleague on the pitch, but it seems their relationship is already pretty good.
The former Aston Villa star said that Haaland had jokingly told him the fee City paid for the England international was why he feels no pressure.
"Erling's looked good in training and once he reaches full fitness will be unstoppable," Grealish said, "I can't wait to play with him and I'm really looking forward to it.
"He actually said to me, 'I'm only half the price of you so I haven't got the pressure.'
"Obviously it's always going to be big expectations but nowadays you have to deal with it. I suppose if he misses a chance or whatever then people are always going to have something to say. I've had to get used to it myself."
Grealish knows full well what it's like to have that pressure on his shoulders, having become the first £100 million player in English football.
The 26-year-old didn't necessarily live up to the price tag last season, even if he didn't exactly have a bad season, and he did end up a league winner.
He then enjoyed his post season celebrations, with Stan Collymore thinking he enjoyed them too much and calling for a ban on alcohol for footballers.
However, Grealish has come back to training and friendly matches looking in great shape, and in City's first game against Club America he was right amongst it.
The England forward ended up in a bit of a shoving match with goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, after the Mexican actually tried to help him up.
Topics: Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Premier League
Ryan Sidle