The midfielder joined City from Aston Villa on Thursday, signing a six-year deal keeping him at the Etihad until the summer of 2027.
And ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield at Wembley, Guardiola has revealed how the deal became possible and what Grealish will bring to a squad that has won 10 trophies in the last four years.
“When we can spend this amount of money, it is a lot, it is because we sell almost £60 million,” Guardiola said.
“In the last 13, 14 months, we sell young players from the academy and loan players for £60 million.
“When you sell £60 million, you can afford £100 million, otherwise it is not possible.
“That’s why the difference we spend on him.
“He’s 26, he can play for the next five, six, seven years here and we believe he has incredible talent - not just skills but mentality.
“The second point is when a team in the last four, five years wins a lot, which we cannot deny we have won a lot, we raise our level in Europe and win in last four Premier Leagues, we need new players that are top - not much, few players but ones that raise the level of the players that are here.
“Otherwise after winning a lot of titles, the players it’s difficult to make a step forward. New players coming in are these players.
“I can only say thank you to the club, especially Khaldoon [Al Mubarak], Ferran [Soriano] and Txiki [Begiristain] and all the departments for making this effort.
“He can play upfront, mainly in left the side area - but he can play as a winger, attacking midfielder, striker - many positions.”
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