Carles Gil has thrived since coming to Major League Soccer, drawing the attention of his former teammate in Manchester City and England national team star Jack Grealish.
Speaking with Joe Prince-Wright of NBC Sports, the Premier League’s most-expensive transfer raved about watching Gil find success since joining the New England Revolution in 2019 – suggesting he’d one day like to follow a similar path.
They overlapped at Aston Villa from 2015-16, with Gil coming off a Best XI season with New England where he also earned Comeback Player of the Year and Landon Donovan MLS MVP honors.
“I follow him on Instagram and keep up to date with what he’s doing,” Grealish said. “I know he had a really good season for the New England Revolution and he’s captain, and I played with him when he was at Villa. Seeing how much he’s enjoying himself over there, and stuff like that, definitely in the future I could see myself playing in America.”
Gil spent one-and-a-half seasons with The Villans, notching three goals and three assists across 34 appearances in all competitions. He had joined from La Liga’s Valencia CF, a left-footed attacking midfielder showing his high-end technique and playmaking abilities.
That clearly left an impression on Grealish, who captained Aston Villa before securing a £100 million transfer to Manchester City this past summer, becoming teammates with US men’s national team goalkeeper Zack Steffen, a former Columbus Crew star.
But one day, the 26-year-old is eager to jettison for MLS – even declaring “100 percent” it’s somewhere he wants to compete, seeing the league’s trajectory and growing reputation.
“I said it to my dad not long ago actually, when we were just speaking about anything,” Grealish said. “I said to him it was something that would definitely stand out. I’ve always loved the US and I think MLS is something that is really coming on now."
For more from Grealish, check out the entire interview here.
