THE GREAL DEAL
CITY AGREE £100MILLION RECORD MOVE FOR JACK
JACK GREALISH is set to become the most expensive Premier League player after closing in on a £100million dream move to Manchester City.
The Premier League champions have inched their way to a deal for the Aston Villa midfielder, offering £75m with £25m in potential add-ons.
Grealish, 25, is now poised to complete his medical in Manchester before putting pen to paper on a fiveyear contract that will pay him £300,000 a week.
City and Villa are continuing to work on the structure of the blockbuster deal, with the Midlands
club wanting as much of the cash up front as possible. Grealish’s recordbreaking transfer eclipses the previous high-water mark of £89m, which Manchester United paid Juventus for Paul Pogba in 2016. It also takes Grealish well clear of the £85m that Real Madrid paid to Tottenham in 2013 for Gareth Bale, which made the Wales star the most expensive British player.
Aston Villa had repeatedly made it clear that they did not want to sell the England midfielder and Villans fans’ favourite.
Grealish has been at the club since he joined the academy aged six, and Villa tried all they could to persuade him to stay on, offering a new deal worth £200,000 a week.
But ultimately the prospect of playing alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden at City, and in the Champions League, has proved impossible to resist.
City remain in the hunt for England captain Harry Kane, right, but only if Spurs chairman Daniel Levy relaxes his stance and lowers his £150m price.
Etihad bosses are less optimistic than a week ago that Kane will be able to get himself out of Spurs.
They are not willing to be held to ransom, and their own valuation stands £30m short of Tottenham’s target.