Premier League English

Manchester United target all ready for crunch talks over summer transfer

Aston Villa skipper and talisman Jack Grealish is hoping to make a high profile move this summer amid strong interest from Manchester United.

Currently holidaying with Villa team-mate John McGinn, the 24-year-old played a crucial role in the club’s survival last season in helping them escape relegation from the League when he scored the decisive goal that effectively kept Villa in the Premier League on the final day of the season, a feat that now appears in retrospect to have dented his own chances of leaving.

Villa would have had no alternatives but to cash in on their captain had they been relegated but now that they are in the Premier League next season it is understandable that the club’s owner wants top dollar for Grealish, and co-owner Nassed Sawiris is reportedly holding out for as much as £80m for Grealish, a price tag that the talented midfielder is concerned will deter potential suitors from even making enquiries.

Grealish is asking for assurances the club will at least inform him of any talks with potential suitors rather than shut them down straight away.

Losing Grealish would no doubt be a sledgehammer blow for manager Dean Smith but there’s already a feeling the midfielder pace of development has finally eclipsed the club’s ambitions.

Interestingly, Grealish finished the 2019/20 campaign as the most fouled player in Europe’s top five leagues (167 times fouled) with eight goals and six assists in the Premier League.