The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has been discussing the likelihood of a Jack Grealish departure from Aston Villa in the summer transfer window.
This season, the English attacker has been in imperious form as he has been Villa’s best-performing player in the Premier League with a 7.23/10 average rating (per WhoScored).
His impressive season in England’s top flight has left the 24-year-old with various suitors, however, Dean Smith’s side have previously slapped an £80m valuation on Grealish (via Daily Mail).
So, in a recent Aston Villa special of the Tifo Football Podcast, Evans made an appearance and discussed what may happen to Villa’s star player this summer.
He said: “The landscape has changed quite a lot over the last couple of years. He was very close to joining Tottenham and then the club decided that he was not going to go. The owner said, ‘You’re our best player’. Christian Purslow describes him as the heart, the soul and the face of the club.
“I think this season will be a little bit different. I think that if – and it’s a big if – a club come in with the right money, then Villa will let him go, I think. Let’s see if things change in the weeks ahead.
“I believe that if they get the right money for him, then they’ll let him go just purely because of where we’re at now and I think that he actually would like to move on. I think that he feels that he wants to go and win trophies somewhere.
“He wants to test himself at an elite club and I personally believe that he’s at the level where he can go and do that. I wouldn’t rule out the abroad option still, possibly in Spain. He certainly wouldn’t turn that down if it came.
“We’ve just got to wait and see. The issue I think with some of the English clubs at the moment is they’re not prepared to pay the money for him. The money that Villa are asking, that’s quite high, believed to be around about £70/80m and it’s a lot of money, isn’t it?”
TIF Thoughts…
Seemingly Evans believes that Grealish could either move somewhere else in England or even abroad, however, Villa’s asking price may prove to be a stumbling block.
Do you think that Jack Grealish will leave the club this summer?
No, I think he'll stay
Yes, I think he'll go
Due to the fact that the 24-year-old attacker has a market value of £36m according to Transfermarkt, that would certainly suggest that what the Villans want is over the odds.