Jack Grealish stuns locals by turning up at a Cheshire pub for a HAIRCUT before classy gesture, the former Man United star in demand for World Cup – and Winter Olympics guilty of press gaffe: INSIDE SPORT

Jack Grealish delighted punters in a Cheshire pub by dropping in for a haircut.

The Manchester City playmaker, who is on loan at Everton, stunned boozers in Alderley Edge by turning a small section of the bar into a barbershop.

One witness told Inside Sport that Grealish was ‘gutted’ after picking up a stress fracture in his foot which may well have put paid to his efforts to win a place in England’s World Cup squad for Germany.

Nonetheless, he was said to be in good spirits and happily mingled with stunned customers in the boozer on a Saturday evening earlier this month. 

Indeed, the 30-year-old went a step further than posing for selfies – by setting up a tab for those present.

Bruce in demand 

Steve Bruce may well soon find himself at the centre of a three-way tug of war for his services at the World Cup. 

The ex-Manchester United defender delivered an insightful analysis of Michael Carrick’s turnaround at his former club for BBC Radio 5 Live recently and has appeared on talkSPORT a number of times since his last role in management at Blackpool.

ITV Sport are also thought to be considering bringing the 65-year-old onboard.

Steve Bruce has been impressing as a pundit since he left his role as Blackpool boss in October

Winter Olympics press gaffe 

Chaotic scenes at the men’s figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Milan on Saturday night. 

A section of media seats were sold by the organisers and so with the event just starting a number of journalists were left bewildered as spectators started asking them to move. 

No advance warning was given and the seats were all clearly marked with ‘press’ on the them. 

Both reporters and punters were, understandably, left furious. According to insiders, tickets are sold for press sections at what are deemed ‘low-demand’ events where full press boxes are not expected. 

In this instance, those involved were moved to vacant seats elsewhere in the media section.

There were chaotic scenes at the men’s figure skating at the Winter Olympics after a section of designated media seats were sold by the organisers

But the food is spot on! 

Word from inside the villages is that the food – unlike that served up in Paris – is spot on. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fresh pasta is going down a storm with the fayre universally deemed as high quality. 

That was famously not the case in France, with many athletes refusing to eat in the village, instead heading out. 

Indeed, Team GB were forced to bring in additional chefs to cater for some of their stars amid complaints over a lack of protein.

Athletes welcome Italian conditions 

Snow conditions in Italy have been deemed perfect by a host of athletes, which many are seeing as vindication for the decision to bring the Games back to natural resorts rather than the man-made Chinese venues witnessed four years ago, when almost all of the snow was artificial.

But athletes are said to have welcomed the natural snow conditions so far at the Games

‘Crotchgate’ chaos 

Such was the flurry of media enquiries from across the globe over ‘crotchgate’ that James Fitzgerald, head of media relations at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and a former international rugby referee, was worried about missing the Six Nations opener on Thursday night. 

As things transpired, Fitzgerald may well have been better off speaking to reporters rather than taking in the action, as his beloved Ireland were ruthlessly taken to the cleaners by favourites France.

NEOM staffing overhaul continues 

The changes at the much promoted and invested in NEOM Sport in Saudi Arabia continue. 

In September, Inside Sport revealed how Jan Paterson, the respected MD of the giga project based at the futuristic World Cup venue in the sky, was off to become chief of staff at the International Olympic Committee. 

Since then George Georgiou, the former FA head of business management, has departed, along with Nathan Homer, who was chief commercial officer and formerly at the Olympic Park. 

Some have wondered aloud what this means for the project, and whether it relates to a perceived tightening of belts in Saudi on the back of the steepest fall in crude oil markets since the pandemic.

Uncertainty reins over the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia after several staff departures

EFL clubs welcome deal sheets 

The EFL’S introduction of deal sheets – which allow clubs extra time to complete deadline day moves – appears to have been a success. 

With the deadline at 7pm, those who submitted deal sheets before the cut-off were then permitted two further hours to get their transfers done. 

The system, commonplace in the Premier League, was introduced at the request of clubs and saw 28 sheets submitted in total. Of those, only one move did not complete at the request of one of the parties involved.

New era for MotoGP begins 

More than 30,000 fans flooded the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night as MotoGP launched its 2026 season in the Malaysian capital.

The entire grid rolled out their new‑season bikes on a specially-built mini street circuit in downtown KL, part of an effort to bring the sport to a more mainstream audience.

New owners Liberty Media, who have overseen a staggering rise in the popularity of F1, are now looking to deliver the same success on two wheels that they brought to four.