PEP WILL HIT JACKPOT
City to rule Europe with Grealish
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MANCHESTER CITY will be unstoppable when they add Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish to their star-studded ranks, says David James.
The Premier League champions are now understood to have lodged a £100million bid for the England star, as Pep Guardiola (below) attempts to prise away one of English football’s biggest talents from the Villans.
Aston Villa have no desire to sell their 25-year-old talisman – but that Etihad offer would mean that their British-record valuation of Grealish has now been met.
Former Villa and City goalkeeper James said: “Part of me would love Jack to say, ‘I love Aston Villa and I don’t even care if we go back down to the Championship, I’m staying here regardless’.
“That’s because there is a certain romance to supporting a club and staying loyal to it through thick and thin.
“On the flip side of that, here is an ambitious young man who is incredibly talented and may be thinking, ‘Where do I go to fulfil my potential?’.
“Goodness me, I had enough moves in my career, and Jack has proved his class at the Euros.
“I always remember seeing him play as a teenager for Villa against Liverpool in the 2015 FA Cup semifinal and thinking then what a special talent he was. Villa won 2-1 and Jack produced a performance that made you just think, ‘Wow, this kid’s got something’.
“He’s got better and better and raised his game to the point where he might think that he will get a move that his talent deserves.
“Forgetting the romance of being a one-club man, if he has an opportunity to go to Manchester City, then it would be very hard to turn down.”
James believes
Grealish would fit in seamlessly alongside
England team-mates
Raheem Sterling and
Phil Foden.
The astonishing prospect of City also bringing in Tottenham striker Harry
Kane looms large. The former England keeper added: “If you look at when Pep was managing Barcelona, Spain won the World Cup in 2010 and most of that squad came from Barca.
“When he was managing Bayern Munich, Germany won the World Cup in 2014 and a lot of the national team played in his Bayern side.
“Now, if he was to get Grealish and Kane – and you add in Sterling, Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker – then all of a sudden England are favourites to win next year’s World Cup.
“But in terms of City, they are my favourites to win the Premier League anyway, even before they sign Grealish or Kane… or both!
“They could win everything if they sign Grealish and it’s a move that makes sense.
“City are desperate for the Champions League, it’s the holy grail for them, and I can see them finally going all the way this season.
“The money they would need to spend to get Kane would be astronomical.
“But I’m not sure that they would even need him at all if Grealish
does sign for them”