Aston Villa battling to keep Jack Grealish
Villa are battling to keep Jack Grealish as talks continue with Manchester City over a potential £100million British record transfer.
Reports yesterday claimed the Premier League champions had firmed up their interest with an opening bid which would exceed the £89m Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba in 2016.
Though Villa are yet to comment publicly, Grealish’s future is expected to be resolved either way in the next few days.
Villa remain eager to keep their captain and are willing to offer a considerable increase on his current salary in an effort to persuade him to stay.
But Grealish has made no secret of his desire to play in the Champions League and the lure of working with Pep Guardiola is proving strong.
In the meantime, Villa are continuing to be aggressive in the market and have seen an opening bid of £25m for Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse rejected.
Talks have also been held with Bayer Leverkusen over winger Leon Bailey yet the departure of Grealish would considerably alter the landscape, with the club prepared to reinvest most if not all of any fee received.
