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'Let's kick him and see what he's made of!' - How Grealish was moulded into a £100m star by Hutton and Co at Aston Villa

A former team-mate of the England international playmaker has lifted the lid on how first steps to superstardom were taken

Jack Grealish is, for the time being at least, the most expensive player in British football history, with a £100 million ($137m) move taking him away from Aston Villa to Premier League champions Manchester City.

Few could have predicted such a meteoric rise during a three-season stint in the Championship between 2016 and 2019, with questions still being asked back then of the enigmatic playmaker's attitude and ability.

Fast forward to the present and Grealish has become a fans' favourite in the senior England set-up and a man Pep Guardiola was prepared to shell out a nine-figure transfer fee for - but how did such a transformation come about, and when were the seeds of success first sown?