The Aston Villa star was an unused substitute in England’s 1-0 win against Croatia last Sunday but Fabregas has insisted he should be ready to make an impact at any time he gets the chance.
Grealish is one of the best players at Southgate’s disposal and many pundits feel the 25-year-old deserves to start due to his performances in the just ended 2020/2021 season with the Villans.
But it was not the case in the Group D opener and the former Arsenal and Barcelona man has shared his experience in this similar position during the 2008 Euros in Austria and Switzerland with La Roja.
“In the 2008 European Championships, I started the tournament as, let’s say, Spain’s number 12 player. I was always the first change, the player to come off the bench,” Fabregas wrote the Telegraph.
“My job to start with was to make an impact and, actually, I enjoyed it knowing that I’d usually get my chance in the 55th or 60th minute trying to make a difference and this is something that I believe Jack Grealish or Jadon Sancho could do for England at this tournament.
“Substitutes can be so, so important at this point in the season and in these short tournaments. I can tell you and I would say the same to Grealish or Sancho or whoever else, that playing 30 minutes in tournaments like this you can be much more important than someone who plays from the start.
“I know that for sure because I experienced it myself. In half-an-hour you can kill a game and everyone can be talking more about you and how you played for 15 minutes or whatever than the guy that started from the beginning. And, of course, in 2008 I ended up starting the final and winning.
“It slowly built up for me and it can be like this for Grealish or another one of the England players. You need to be ready at any moment, to either play, when you have been on the bench, or to come off the bench and make an impact.”
