Manchester City players were given two days off after their FA Cup win over Plymouth and Jack Grealish went to the pub on the first of those. The £100m winger was clocked by locals in a social club in the north-east drinking with friends, and then filmed looking less than steady as he left.

Other City stars may well have drunk in other venues, but they don't make the headlines that Grealish does. The only player more likely to get coverage would be global superstar Erling Haaland - and even then part of that would be novelty.

City welcome the extra attention that Grealish's pull gives them so they cannot complain that it works both ways, and Pep Guardiola will have no concerns as long as the player reports back to training on Tuesday ready to give 100 per cent.

READ MORE: Man City issue Nathan Ake statement as worst injury fears confirmed

READ MORE: Man City rising star has new role confirmed by crunch selection call

As long as you are performing, you can do what you like - that's why there were so few complaints about Grealish's wild celebrations after winning the Treble. That was then though, and now the 29-year-old is struggling to hit the heights that he reached in the second half of the 2022/23 season.

Grealish was fine on Saturday as he started the 3-1 win over Plymouth - no more, no less. It was a welcome return from his latest injury, albeit there have been too many problems this season.

The only other starts for the player in 2025 have been against Salford City, Leyton Orient, and Real Madrid; against Madrid, he helped to set up the opening goal, only to break down with injury after 20 minutes.

Villa away was the last Premier League game that Grealish started for City, back in December before Father Christmas had even left Lapland. Out of 27 games this season, he has six starts.

That speaks to a player who isn't offering enough, and while Grealish can do whatever he likes in his free time and cannot help if his every move is slapped on social media he also cannot have too many complaints if regular footage of him from bars does not endear him with supporters who want their stars to give absolutely everything they have to the club.

Think back to last summer, when every England game would be accompanied by a social media post from Grealish of an extra session he was putting in on the pitch to prove his doubters wrong and do everything possible to make sure this season was as good as it could be.

Those reminders earned Grealish sympathy with Blues over his treatment by England and appreciation over an attitude that appeared a determined effort to benefit both the player and City.

That hasn't gone away, but the season hasn't worked out anything like anybody hoped. In the last three weeks, fans have seen more of Grealish enjoying himself on days off than they have seen him in Guardiola's starting XI.

Such behaviour does not harm his chances of starting the next game one bit given he hasn't done anything wrong, yet in reality he probably has more people to win over the next time he is back in the starting XI.

As every player fights to show that they should be part of the revamped squad planning to win back the Premier League next season, supporters want to see Grealish justifying the freedom to recover from matches however he likes.