Manchester City are reportedly showing a greater interest in bringing the Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish to the Etihad Stadium this summer?
What’s been said?
The 24-year-old captain has been a key part of Dean Smith’s side, that saw them survive in the Premier League in the final day of last season after a 1-1 draw against West Ham United, with Grealish himself scoring the all-important goal with six minutes to play.
The former England U21 international scored 10 goals and provided eight assists from 41 appearances in all competitions last season (as per TransferMarkt), emphasising how influential and important Grealish is for the Villains.
Manchester United looked to have been leading the race to secure his services for some time. However, a bombshell was dropped as City look to hijack any potential move made by their fiercest rivals.
Speaking on the Ornstein & Chapman Podcast, The Athletic’s David Ornstein said City are currently showing more interest than United for Grealish, and he would be happy to join up with a Champions League club for the 2020/21 campaign.
Should City consider signing Grealish?
Yes, please get the deal done
No, why? We have Foden
He added that at this stage, Villa are understandably keen to keep hold of him as they understand that Grealish is their best player, and are hoping that he will accept a contract extension at Villa Park.
Pep could make him world-class
Manager Pep Guardiola previously described him as an “incredible, incredible player” (cited by the Manchester Evening News) after the Citizens were previously linked with him back in February.
Grealish is a talented individual and it seems amazing that he does not have an England cap yet. With this in mind, the attacking midfielder has proved himself to be capable at Premier League level. Now, all he needs is to be fine-tuned to take his game up another level.
Guardiola did exactly that with Raheem Sterling. While he was a very good player at Liverpool, the Spanish tactician gave him that little bit extra in his game and now he is dazzling defenders across the Premier League and Europe most weeks.
If Grealish gets the chance under Guardiola, he will also be a regular for his country. No doubt about that. He is playing way before his prime and City could benefit from him being in the midfield.
Although the Citizens already have many options in the middle, Grealish could eventually break into the first team and keep himself there under Guardiola’s watch.