England forward Jack Grealish admits regret over Miguel Almiron jibe and insists he is ‘buzzing’ about response from Newcastle star

England star Jack Grealish admits he regrets poking fun at Newcastle forward Miguel Almiron earlier this year.

Back in May, a tipsy Grealish angered the Toon Army with a joke at Almiron’s expense during Manchester City’s title celebrations.

The 27-year-old said Riyad Mahrez was ‘playing like Almiron’ after a poor performance, not realising the video was public.

Paraguay star Almiron is now in the form of his life, with eight goals in 15 Premier League games this season, and Magpies supporters are never slow to remind Grealish of his comments.

“When I said earlier that sometimes I do stupid stuff, that was one,” Grealish said in an interview before England’s World Cup clash with Senegal on Sunday. “I regret that.

“I swear, I’m actually buzzing the way he’s reacted. He said something about me in the interview the other day, he wished me the best.

“I thought ‘what a guy, man’ because if that was me and somebody had said that about me, I’d have probably been the other way and been like ‘f*** it’.”

While Newcastle fans have hounded Grealish, Almiron has refused to make too much of the jibe.

The 28-year-old recently told Chronicle Live: “Would I shake his hand the next time we line up to play Man City? Yes, yes, I would.

“Of course, I’d shake hands with him, whenever we play against Man City without a shadow of a doubt.

“Like I have said and as I keep on insisting to people Jack Grealish is a great player and I just wish him all the best.”

Grealish has revealed he contacted former Villa team-mate Matt Targett to apologise to Almiron.

“I thought it was just private but even in private I shouldn’t have said it because he’s a fellow professional,” Grealish added.

“I’m actually buzzing for him. I’ve had a lot of stick off the Newcastle fans and rightly so.”