Former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel believes that midfielder Jack Grealish is likely to leave the club this summer, if they do not earn promotion to the Premier League.
Grealish has been heavily influential in Dean Smith’s side run to the Championship play-off final where Villa will face Derby County, with the 23-year-old returning from injury problems to help his team-mates go on a run of ten successive Championship wins from March to April that saw the club reach play-offs.
However, Angel has suggested that it would be difficult for Aston Villa to keep hold of Grealish this summer, if they are beaten by Derby, with the 23-year-old likely to be wanting to play in the English top flight.
“Villa will obviously give themselves a better chance of keeping him by being in the Premier League. You have to give the kid a chance to play at the top level, if not it’s going to be very difficult to keep him,” Angel told Four Four Two.
OPINION
Angel is right to suggest that if Aston Villa are going to be able to keep hold of Grealish this summer they will need to be playing in the Premier League. Grealish and the rest of his team-mates will be hoping that they are able to beat Derby on Monday at Wembley and secure promotion to the top flight. However, it will be interesting to see what happens to Smith’s side during the summer if they lose a second successive play-off final, with Grealish likely to be aiming to ply his trade in the English top flight next term. As Angel states Grealish is a player who needs to be given the opportunity to play in the Premier League now, after spending the last few seasons in the Championship with Villa. The 23-year-old will be keen to ensure he is in the top flight to help boost his chances of getting into the England set up, and will be keen to help fire Villa there against Derby. However, if he is unable to help his side win promotion then there will probably be lots of teams lining up to secure his signature, making it unlikely that he will be at Villa Park next term.