Tottenham want Aston Villa to get serious
Tottenham would love to sign Jack Grealish away from Aston Villa, but the Championship club need to set a more realistic asking price.
Aston Villa’s failure to overcome Fulham in the Championship playoff final will likely have a significant impact on Tottenham’s summer plans. Originally, Spurs really wanted to pry Ryan Sessegnon away from the Whites. Unfortunately, their promotion is going to make that a real challenge.
The flip side to that news is that it should allow Spurs to make a summer swoop for Jack Grealish. He isn’t quite as exciting as Sessegnon, but he does play a position of need for Tottenham. Mauricio Pochettino needs to sign a number ten this summer who can provide cover for Christian Eriksen.
Predictably, the Villains don’t want to part ways with their talented attacker. They view Grealish as a key part of next year’s squad. As such, they’re trying to put a prohibitive price tag on his head. Reports from England claim that both Spurs and West Ham were told it would require a bid of £40 million to sign the Englishman this summer.
As a result, both Tottenham and the Hammers have opted to look elsewhere for the time being. It’s a cruel blow for Grealish. The player certainly deserves to be in the Premier League next season. At 22 years of age, another season in the Championship isn’t really going to help his development all that much. It’s time for Grealish to test himself at a higher level.
Moving to North London to play for Pochettino would be perfect for Grealish. After all, the Argentine gaffer has shown he can do wonders with young English players who were previously coached by Tim Sherwood. Grealish could potentially follow Harry Kane’s career arc.
Even if he doesn’t reach such meteoric heights, competing against the first team at Tottenham every day in training would pay huge dividends for Grealish. He needs to be pushed if he is going to take his game to the next level. He likely wouldn’t be a starter for Spurs, but he would have a real opportunity to earn meaningful playing time for Pochettino.
Next: Snubbing Real Madrid says a lot about Pochettino
If that’s going to happen, Aston Villa are going to have to get more realistic with their demands. A fee of around £25 million with some moderate add-ons feels a lot more reasonable for a player of Grealish’s age and experience. He’s a promising player, but he’s not 18 anymore. It’s time for the Villains to do what’s best for themselves and their homegrown player. They must let Grealish leave for greener pastures this summer.