Will he stay or will he go?
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has reportedly already planned for Jack Grealish’s arrival at the club this summer, as the Premier League champions continue to pursue the Villa playmaker.
Along with Harry Kane, Grealish is City’s main target this summer and they remain confident that they will be able to agree a deal with Grealish’s boyhood club, Aston Villa, to sign him.
However, Villa themselves are hopeful that their captain will commit to a new deal, said to be worth £200,000-a-week, and secure their star down for the foreseeable future.
The Athletic reports that Pep already know how he would use the England midfielder. Whilst he has played mostly out wide for Dean Smith’s Villa side in recent seasons, Guardiola is set to deploy him in a more central position and rotate him regularly with Ilkay Gundogan.
The Spanish manager views Grealish more as a midfielder than a forward, and could end up being a replacement of sorts for Bernardo Silva, who is pushing for a move away from the club.
Should Grealish move to the Etihad, Guardiola would be adding to an already outstanding list of creativity options, with the likes of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling all already at his disposal.
Villa themselves aren’t hanging around in the transfer market either though. Having already secured the services of Emi Buendia and Ashley Young this summer, they are now right in the hunt for Bayer Leverkusen star Leon Bailey.
It remains to be seen whether he would be an extra option for Dean Smith alongside Grealish, or a replacement for the Villa captain.
Related links:
- Raphael Varane on the brink of Man Utd move as club nears agreement with Real Madrid
- Man City make eye-watering ‘player plus cash’ offer for Harry Kane
