Rio Ferdinand believes Jack Grealish would have changed the landscape of his Manchester City career had he scored in the Blues' heartbreaking 3-1 Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Taking a 73rd minute lead through winger Riyad Mahrez, putting them 5-3 ahead on aggregate, City looked set to book a date with Liverpool in Paris at the end of May, securing a spot in their second consecutive Champions League final. However, Madrid staged a dramatic comeback, scoring in the 90th and 91st minutes through Rodrygo to force the tie to extra time.
Madrid, with their tails up, found a way to complete one of the most famous semi-final comebacks of all-time, sealing a 3-1 win on the night and a 6-5 aggregate triumph through Karim Benzema's 43rd goal of the season from the penalty spot. It means that City will now be forced to wait at least another 12 months before they can end their wait for their maiden Champions League crown.
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However, City could have signed and sealed their place in Paris before Madrid showed the first sign of refusing to throw the towel in. After coming off the bench, Grealish found a fair amount of joy down the left flank and went close to scoring twice in in less than 60 seconds.
First, he saw an effort cleared off the line from Ferland Mendy, before seeing a low effort kept out by Thibaut Courtois' left-leg, meaning he was inches away on two occasions from putting City in complete control and booking their flights to Paris.
Grealish's near-misses will no doubt haunt the England international over the coming days, but credit must be paid to Mendy and Courtois for their heroics in denying him. But had either of those chances found the net, Ferdinand believes Grealish's City career would have changed instantly.
"That changes everything for Jack Grealish in a Manchester City shirt," Ferdinand told BT Sport. "Whether you think he's been good or bad or average, that would've changed everything."
Grealish joined City from Aston Villa in a £100million deal last summer and has struggled to live up to expectation. He has scored just goals and claimed three assists in 36 appearances.
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