Aston Villa said they had no comment to make after a picture of their young midfielder Jack Grealish apparently inhaling laughing gas from a balloon appeared in the Sun newspaper.
The newspaper said the picture had been taken six months earlier before Grealish leapt to prominence as the star of Villa’s FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool at the weekend.
The player is currently caught between representing England and the Republic of Ireland at international level, having been born to English parents but qualifying for Martin O’Neill’s side through his grandparents.
He follows the Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling and the West Brom striker Saido Berahino in being pictured apparently inhaling the so-called legal high, nitrous oxide, from a balloon.
The gas is said to make people feel relaxed and euphoric and though it is not illegal to be in possession of the substance, abuse can lead to oxygen deprivation resulting in loss of blood pressure, fainting and even heart attacks.
Coincidentally Tim Sherwood was asked about the Sterling pictures before the semi-final meeting with Liverpool and the Villa manager said: “I am not condoning it but he is a young man, isn’t he? He obviously has a fortune, a lot of money which has come his way.
“I am not condoning what he did but just grow up like everyone else. It is tough, you are in the public eye and you recognise that. It is hard not to criticise but I have a wee bit of sympathy.”
