Manchester City and England star Jack Grealish has hit back at critics over his holiday.
Grealish enjoyed a successful first season at City overall, winning the Premier League title for the first time.
The midfielder was not a starter every week for Pep Guardiola, but silverware was the aim. and silverware the midfielder got.
There’s no rest for the wicked, though, and Grealish is one of many Premier League stars to have been called up for international duty this summer.
That threatened to put a break on holidays for many players, but Grealish managed to get off to Ibiza.
And that has led to criticism from some sections of the media, given the upcoming England duty.
Though, the former Aston Villa man is having none of that, defending his right to take a break.
“I’m doing what I have loved doing my whole life,” he told the Mirror. “I’m the most expensive British player but I’m also the Jack from Solihull who my friends and family know. I’ll never let that leave me, no matter what anyone says.
“I know people were saying last week, ‘Oh, he’s doing too much’. But what? I’ve just won the Premier League. It’s a dream come true. Why can’t I go on holiday?
“There’s people that are at England with me now who went to Vegas, Ibiza, Marbella, all these places. No-one said a word, but because it was me, people were saying things. I love coming here. I love training, playing with the lads. It’s such a good bunch. We always look forward to playing with each other.
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“That’s one thing that Gareth has done, he’s made this a team. Somewhere where you enjoy coming to play. I’ve heard people say in the past that they didn’t enjoy coming to play for England, like 10-15 years ago.
“But credit to the manager he’s made it a place where everyone wants to come. Southgate has done a brilliant job here. It’s not how it used to be. We are all friends.
“We know when we come here we have a job to do together even if we might be rivals on a Saturday, we know we have a job to do here. We are going to try do that.”