Jack Grealish could face a serious problem following his exclusion from England’s Euro 2024 squad. Prior to the tournament, the Manchester City winger had a deal with a brand, Hellmann’s. The fact that he was not selected for the national team would damage the brand’s trust in Grealish.
Football finance expert, Dr. Rob Wilson said that it was possible for both Hellman’s and Grealish to lose tens of millions of pounds following the issue. The reason is that brands expect Grealish to keep up his top performance as an athlete.
“When these brands associate with athletes, they do so on the basis that they think those athletes will realise certain goals and objectives,” Wilson said to an investment platform, Saxo. “Clearly, as part of the conversation in the activation of a partnership between Grealish and Hellmann’s, they expected him to be on the plane to Germany as part of the England squad.”
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Jack Grealish has an issue with a reputation
Usually, a brand wants to be represented by athletes both in their on and off-the-pitch life. The case with Grealish is the player frequently shows reckless behaviour with partying and pulling up to training in a lavish lifestyle. This contradicts the value of modesty that an athlete has to have.
“The biggest challenge for Jack Grealish is the image currently being presented around him which is that he is a party boy on the lash, who is always drunk,” Wilson added. “It’s almost like a playful rogue like Freddie Flintoff, but I actually think he has less leeway because he is a footballer.
“The fact that he hasn’t gone does two things; it perhaps reduces the value of the exposure, which would likely be represented in his contract. If they are not generating off the back of it, then he will not be either.”
However, Wilson added that Grealish’s exclusion would bring other benefits, both for the player and the brand. “Conversely, because he is not on the plane, he might be more available for brand activation work and he is still marketable as an England and Manchester City football player.”
Grealish has been under the microscope entering his third season with City as his performance was seen going south. At the same time, the emergence of Jeremy Doku put the former Aston Villa midfielder under a lot of pressure.