Tottenham won’t return for Jack Grealish in January

Tottenham officials do have serious regret about not moving for Jack Grealish earlier this summer, but don’t expect them to bid for him again.

There’s no doubt that Daniel Levy and company fouled up their chance to sign Jack Grealish for a reasonable transfer fee this summer. Tottenham would have benefited from the Englishman’s acquisition, but no one at Hotspur Way is heartbroken over missing out on the Championship midfielder. In fact, it’s very unlikely Spurs will return for him in January.

The simple truth is there is too much bad blood between Tottenham and Aston Villa. Steve Bruce and his new owners can celebrate their success in turning a Premier League club away, but that success will come with a price. Daniel Levy isn’t going to be in any mood to meet their transfer demands in the future.

That puts Grealish in a pretty interesting situation. He reportedly had his heart set on a move to work for Mauricio Pochettino, but he still has two years left on his contract with the Villains. He can either accept the club’s offer of a new five-year deal with a pay raise, or he can allow his contract to tick down. If he does the latter, it’s going to force Villa to lower their price for Grealish in future windows.

The only way Grealish is going to end up at Tottenham in the near future is if he makes it clear to Villa’s new ownership consortium that he will not be staying at the club for the long haul. Given his lifelong affection for Villa, that seems very unlikely. The odds favour Grealish accepting a pay raise and moving on with his efforts to get the club back into England’s top flight.

For their part, Tottenham will be entirely comfortable moving on and evaluating other targets in January. That’s not typically been an active market for Spurs, but there will be serious pressure on Levy and company to make a big move after sitting out the summer window entirely.

Grealish will eventually find a Premier League home, but the odds of him playing for Spurs in the near future are pretty remote. Villa have either missed their chance to capitalize on their most valuable asset or scored a philosophical victory for Championship clubs everywhere. Your perspective determines which point of view you believe.