Grealish can be saviour for Villa in more ways than one

IT has been clear for some time that if Aston Villa are to survive, it will be Jack Grealish who has been the key to keeping them up. Yet even if they do not, it will still be their captain who rescues them if they do fall.

There has never been a worse time to be relegated from the Premier League. Missing out on the riches of football’s promised land is painful enough even without the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The prospect of a season with no gate receipts, uncertainty over the Football League’s television deal, a transfer market crash and potentially reduced parachute payments due to the £330million rebate to broadcasters, is enough to strike fear into any relegationthreatened club.

To deal with the difficulties that lie ahead, the Football League want to introduce a wage cap with the Championship’s set at £18m.

Villa started the weekend inside the relegation zone with champions Liverpool their opponents today, followed by inform Champions League chasers Manchester United.

For a club who spent £135m in the summer, the worst hardly bears thinking about. And that’s just what manager Dean Smith is refusing to do.

‘We are going to work extremely hard to stay in the league,’ he said. ‘That’s our only focus.’

Villa still have a fighting chance and if they do survive, many of the financial questions are likely to go away. But what if the worst does happen?

‘If Villa are relegated, they will have to have an asset sale,’ Kieran Maguire, football finance lecturer told the Mail on Sunday. ‘The jewel in the crown as far as they are concerned will be Jack Grealish and a lot will depend on his market valuation in the summer.

‘If they get 40 to 60 million for him then that will cover them in terms of financial fair play considerations in my view. He will be their get out of jail card.’