Jack Grealish has spoken out after being accused of disrespectful shithousery during the Club World Cup final on Friday.
Grealish started at left wing as Manchester City faced Brazilian side Fluminense in the final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday evening.
Ultimately, the Champions League winners ran out routine winners by 4-0, with the first of Julian Alvarez's goals coming after just 40 seconds of the first half.
Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense were dejected after the game, and one of their players appeared to be drawn into an altercation with City captain Kyle Walker at full-time.
Though the TV cameras quickly cut away from the kerfuffle on the pitch, it later transpired that Walker had stepped in to defend teammate Grealish from the onrushing Felipe Melo.
Melo, who played in the 2010 World Cup for Brazil, started at centre-back for Fluminense in Jeddah and was unhappy with Grealish's alleged antics during and after the game.
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Jack Grealish shuts down suggestions he engaged in any shithousery at World Cup
Speaking to the media after Friday's World Cup final, Felipe Melo said that Jack Grealish had been "disrespectful" towards Fluminense during the game, and accused the Englishman of joining in with the crowd's singing while the game was ongoing:
Today Grealish was disrespectful towards the Fluminense team and I'll never let that happen.
He was shouting 'olé' during the game. This is for the fans, they can shout 'olé.'
The athlete on the field cannot be disrespectful.
Jack Grealish has never been a man to shy away from shithousery, so it was not the biggest surprise to hear his name mentioned by Melo in such a light.
However, the Manchester City man later took to Twitter in an attempt to shut down Melo's accusations, rather hilariously saying, 'Not once did I say ole.'
Not once did I say ole https://t.co/wguT4ZFwc6
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) December 22, 2023
Melo's criticism of the England star did not end there.
The Brazilian revealed that he had not in fact charged at Grealish at full-time due to his alleged "ole" chanting. Instead, Melo claimed that Manchester City winger had "gone after" Matheus Martinelli, and accused Grealish of picking on his Fluminense teammate:
When the game ended, Grealish went after Martinelli. He chose a little guy. He has no balls to face a big one. He was passing close to Martinelli and I saw them talking, forehead to forehead, so I went after him. I pushed him. Walker pushed me, too. I went to defend a teammate.
I also defended my institution. I will do this forever. No one will disrespect my institution or its athletes. No one will come and humiliate my friends or my club.
The Club World Cup triumph capped off an enormous year for Manchester City, which saw them win a historic treble last season and the UEFA Super Cup in August.
They return to Premier League action on December 27th against a resurgent Everton at Goodison Park.
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