Will Manchester City Bid For Jack Grealish?

Manchester City are busy right now making plans for their Summer rebuild, but could Aston Villa star Jack Grealish become the latest signing?

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s Catalan Manager this week talked again about his admiration for Aston Villa player, Jack Grealish. Pep described him as “one of the best players in the Premier League”, following up again on similar comments he made earlier in the season.

With the two teams set to face each other again, this time at Wembley Stadium when they compete in the Carabao Cup Final, there will be another opportunity for Pep to once again run his eye over Grealish.

The question though is whether Grealish really would tick the boxes to be of real interest to Manchester City?

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Grealish has had a solid season so far back in the Premier League, making a total of 22 appearances with 7 goals and 5 assists. Impressive statistics given his team have struggled and sit in a relegation dog fight.

What is even more impressive is when you start to look beyond those figures. Right now he is the only other Premier League player to have created over 50 scoring chances so far this season alongside Kevin De Bruyne.

So, what is clear is that he has an undoubted talent but the question is could he utilise that talent in a very different side. Right now he plays in a side who do not dominate the ball and retain possession, so could he be as effective when he gets to spend most of the time on the ball?

I think he could adapt his playing style to perform a variety of roles at Manchester City. As an immediate cover for Kevin De Bruyne in a central midfield role. As an attacking midfielder supporting Sergio Aguero and linking the play between midfield and attack. Finally, there is even a suggestion he could fulfil a deeper lying role at City, which would be interesting.

So if we accept he has the talent and ability, and could play in our team, how likely is it that City will be interested enough to attempt to negotiate a transfer?

Well, firstly there has been a suggestion in the past that his off field behaviour has been problematic, indeed there has even been a rumour that it has curtailed his England ambitions. Whilst City tend to carry out comprehensive scouting regarding player backgrounds, I am sure any research would confirm he has matured considerably in recent years.

The second factor to consider is that he is home grown and as such would be an interesting acquisition – potentially allowing us to even recruit an additional foreign defender if we so wished.

The final issue to contend with may be the price. Whilst transfermarkt.com suggests a player value of £31.5 million based upon the price of his existing contract, it is likely any attempt to prise him away from the club he supports will cost at least twice that fee.

Home grown players always carry a premium and a young player, potentially entering his best form will command a significant fee, which will only rise in the years ahead. In fact the wisest thing to do would be to either agree a fee and loan back deal or reach an agreement for June 2020 now. Grealish will become hot property in the months ahead and City will need to steal a march on rivals if they are to attract his signature.

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I believe Grealish represents a better value investment than similar foreign midfielders – that Premier League experience should aid his transition too. Clearly from his recent comments, Guardiola thinks so too. This will be an interesting story to watch play out over the next few months.

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