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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
Richard Forrester

Bristol City captain reveals which Manchester City player he has asked to swap shirts with

Andi Weimann has already sent Jack Grealish a request to swap shirts following Bristol City's FA Cup tie with Manchester City as a gift for his son, Luca.

The Robins captain was a former team-mate of the Man City and England star when the latter was breaking through the ranks at Aston Villa. Even at the age of 15, Weimann knew Grealish was a special talent and it came as little surprise to him when the midfielder became the most expensive player in British history when he completed a £100million to Pep Guardiola's side in 2021.

Tuesday night provides the opportunity for a reunion, although there's likely to be no love lost on the pitch as City look to pull off one of the greatest results in the club's history. Whatever the result, Weimann will aim to grab a memento from the occasion which his eight-year-old son can treasure.

"I was back home watching the draw with my boy and he was quite excited when it came and he's getting into football now," Weimann said. "I've asked Jack Grealish to swap already but that's for my son. He's asked me so I'll try and get that signed.

"I hope he's a Bristol City fan... He came here when he was three so he hasn't known much else but he's starting to get really into football now and he's playing for a local team and he's coming to the game tomorrow night.

"He plays all the sticker books so he now knows all the players' names. When they're on the tele he'll shout out, 'there's Haaland', 'there's De Bruyne' or Grealish - he probably knows them more than the City players to be honest," he added.

Having earned the nickname 'Guernsey Grealish', City have their own bright talent in Alex Scott. Weimann joked the parallels don't just end with their fashion on the grass but can see why people make the comparisons with their styles of play.

Speaking earlier this month, City utility man Kal Naismith - who unfortunately will miss the FA Cup due to a calf injury - claimed Scott reminds him specifically of when Grealish was playing in the Championship with Villa.

"I think my last season at Aston Villa was when we started coming through properly. In training you could see he was really good, I might be wrong but I think he was 15 or 16 when he started training with us," Weimann added.

Andi Weimann celebrates with old Villa team-mate Grealish (AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

"Obviously, the way he has carried on progressing and the way he is now, it's amazing. The most obvious comparison is the socks and how they wear their socks.

"The way Alex glides across the pitch I can see why some people compare him to Jack. We've spoken about Alex so many times this season, how good he is, how good he is for his age, he much we rate him in the changing room and the club rates him.

"I think now he is starting to get more attention from the outside the club as well which is what he deserves because that's how well he has been doing but he has a long way to go to get where Jack Grealish is but we've said it before, he's got a really, really bright future ahead of him. We're happy with got him and we'll see where he ends up."

Weimann has issued a rallying cry to his City team-mates to go and upset the odds at Ashton Gate and believes the club's 12-game unbeaten run means they have every right to stand toe-to-toe with Man City. As club captain, the Austrian's message to the younger players is to go out and play without any pressure.

"Of course, we can (win)," he said. "It's going to be very, very hard, you never know what's going to happen. First and foremost, we just want to play how we have been playing in the last few weeks and we just want to be proud of ourselves and whatever happens, happens.

"We'll definitely go into the game in confidence and see what we can achieve. For the younger players, they can go in with no fear at all. The way we have been playing, we have performed really well. We couldn't be any more confident after going 12 games unbeaten.

"We know we're underdogs, we know it's going to be really tough but we couldn't go into the game on a more positive note so I think everyone is excited and we will take it in our stride and see how far we can push them."

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