Aston Villa have so far disputed that they have received any official bids for Jack Grealish, after fresh media reports of a £15m bid from Spurs for the 22-year-old.
MOMS has already written about Jack Grealish in terms of whether he should stay or go, and it’s probably the only sensible thing you’ll read on the matter, if I do say so myself. Especially, if you compare it to some of the clickbait nonsense that’s been coming out of the media recently on the subject of Mr Grealish…
Who?
Alex Dicken @ Birmingham Mail
Headline
Explained: The Jack Grealish solution that would keep him and Aston Villa happy
Spiel
Premier League clubs are sitting up and taking notice of Super Jack. At least one of the 20 top flight sides will come calling this summer.
The club’s ongoing battle with Financial Fair Play has worsened, and Grealish’s sale could be imperative to them meeting increasingly strict regulations.
Villa need the money and Grealish needs Premier League football – on the face of it this can only end one way.
However, maybe there’s a solution. It’s a little far-fetched, and Villa might have trouble drumming up any interest, but it’s an option.
A possible solution?
Provided Villa don’t need to force Grealish out the door to meet FFP criteria, he could leave on a season-long loan.
It wouldn’t matter which Premier League club he joined as long as Villa received a chunky loan fee in return to help with their finances.
For example, Leicester City could pay a £3million loan fee and cover Grealish’s wages for the season.
In the event of a Villa promotion, Grealish returns to the club. If Villa fail to achieve promotion again, he would obviously have to leave permanently.
It’s an incredibly complex scenario, but one that could meet everyone’s desires.
Evaluation
The headline that promises a solution to solve all problems – keeping both Grealish and Aston Villa happy.
I. MUST. CLICK. THAT.
They might as well have thrown in prevent flooding, cure cancer and bring about gender equality too, as it’s not really a solution for anything in reality.
The writer actually knows it’s a naff idea, when the article actually apologizes in advance, by labelling the proposed solution ‘a little far-fetched’. As if by calling out its implausibility, he’s justified in publishing it.
If Villa don’t need to force Grealish out the door to meet FFP criteria or solve a financial nightmare, then why would they loan out their best chance of actually getting promoted for the sake of say £3m and his wages? MAKES. NO. SENSE. AT. ALL.
Let me spell this out. Regardless of the financial situation, Villa’s prime aim in the Championship is to get promoted. There is no ‘almost’ or ‘unlucky’, it’s do or die. The stakes get higher every season Villa are out of the Premier League, so why would the club loan out their best player for a token fee?
A player, the current manager has previously stated he intends to build a team around.
Med Muppet Score: 10/10 – Nonsense
Who?
TEAMtalk (no journalist attributed)
Headline
EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea offer Villa incentive in bid for £30m Grealish
Spiel
Chelsea are hoping to beat a number of Premier League rivals to Jack Grealish after TEAMtalk learnt the Blues have offered Aston Villa a package they believe will seriously tempt them to do business.
But according to our sources, Chelsea are ready to spend up to £30million on Grealish AND are willing loan him back to Villa for the 2018/19 season, in the hope that could be enough to land the 22-year-old.
Despite the interest in his services, TEAMtalk has also learnt that Grealish had wanted to stay at Villa Park for at least another 12 months – that in spite of their failure to return to the Premier League through the play-offs.
However, the Birmingham-born star will move on if it helps ease their financial woes – with the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton, West Ham and Newcastle all also keen.
However, Chelsea’s proposal to Villa could yet force their hand.
Evaluation
TEAMtalk have previous in nonsense transfer stories. Sam Johnstone to WBA in the last transfer window was their last Villa-related one.
At this point of time, when it is unclear how bad Villa’s financial position is and there is still the potential of a fire sale of players, Chelsea are hardly going to offer £30m straight off the bat. The rumours of Spurs offering £15m are a bit more realistic in terms of what the level of actual opening bids would be.
This almost sounds like this story came from Villa themselves to get the Grealish bidding party started at a higher amount.
Also, the loan-back option is something that clubs do when buying young lower league talent that aren’t quite developed yet and could do with another season of regular football at a lower level. For example, Spurs buying Dele Ali from MK Dons when he was 19-years-old.
No team drops £30m on a 22-year-old player and doesn’t think they’re ready for the first team from the off. It doesn’t make sense. Dele Alli is now 22 and in the England squad. You could argue that Grealish, the same age, would have been over in Russia too, if he had a good season with a Villa team still in the Premier League.
Grealish is not a development project in terms of having a loan-back deal attached.
Would Chelsea being doing the loan back as a favour for John Terry? Come one! There’s little room for sentiment in such big business.
Also, it would be massively embarrassing for a club, of the supposed statue of Villa, to entertain such a deal. We’d be behaving like a poxy feeder club to Chelsea. It’s also likely to create potential dressing room tension, if things don’t go well for Villa next season on the pitch. Other players will get jealous, Grealish’s focus will shift. If he didn’t play well, fans would have an obvious bat to beat him with – “Why don’t you just f**k off to Chelsea!”
You’d guess that Grealish doesn’t want to leave Villa, but if he had to, one of the things that would placate him would be immediate top-tier football. So he wouldn’t want to wait a year.
Remember that footage and picture at Wembley of John Terry whispering into a distraught Grealish’s ear after the play-off final loss?
If this deal came off, there’s no doubt about who played the Mr Fix-it role.
Media Muppet Rating: 7/10 – Chelsea not out of the question, but not on these terms
Who?
Steve Wollaston @ Birmingham Mail
Headline
The reasons why Wolves could be the answer for Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish
Spiel
If Aston Villa need to sell Jack Grealish, it would be wise of Wolves to take a look – writes Steve Wollaston
Wolves chief executive Laurie Dalrymple has spoken at length about the transfer strategy at the club and has insisted that players are being looked at from all corners of the globe.
Which brings me onto a player that Wolves should definitely be looking at – Jack Grealish.
The Solihull-born ace is Villa’s most saleable asset and the only player in the squad who can fetch a transfer fee in excess of £20million.
Nuno would have watched carefully how Grealish dismantled Wolves at Villa Park, and he can’t fail to have been impressed.
He plays football like football should be played and if reports of £20m-£25m fees are to be believed, there is no reason Wolves can’t operate in that arena.
At 22-years-old, Grealish is a solid investment and has all of his best years ahead of him.
He has aspirations to feature for England in the Euros in two years and staying at Villa could be a huge gamble for his career aspirations.
Fitting him into the Wolves pattern of play may be a stumbling block, would a midfield of Grealish and Ruben Neves work?
Much would depend on whether the club are confident that he would be a key man in their starting line-up.
From the perspective of Grealish himself, his devastation at Villa’s plight should not be underestimated. It’s refreshing in this day and age to see a player plying his trade for a club that means so much to him.
He is a lifelong Villa fan, as are his family, and he is very settled in the area. Of course, everywhere in the country is easily accessible these days, but Wolves may just tick the box in terms of location and minimal upheaval.
Wolves would also be a very attractive proposition for a young player with high aspirations, they are a club seemingly progressing at an alarming rate and you could imagine that would be a an attractive proposition for a young England wannabe.
Evaluation
The Mail’s Steve Wollaston is no stranger to dubious opinions concerning his team Wolves (see below) and Aston Villa, remember his ‘Steve Bruce Will Get Aston Villa Promoted Next Season’ article from last season?
Some Very Dubious Wolves Opinion to Go With Past Villa Failings
‘Wolves would also be a very attractive proposition for a young player with high aspirations’ What? Champions League football?
Is this article simply aimed at hooking both Wolves and Villa fans for clicks?
In this day and age, it’s unlikely that Jack Grealish would get away with living a peaceful life if he signed for Wolves and stayed living local. His dad and brothers would cop endless flak too. If Grealish moved to Wolves, they’d probably have to move Wolves out of the Midlands as part of the deal.
These are different times from when Andy Gray switched clubs back in 1979.
Speaking of Gray, he may have talked about having claret and blue blood (famously shortly before he jacked in the Villa assistant manager job to become a Sky pundit), but Grealish actually has it.
While football is changing with history and tradition increasingly counting for less against the Premier League’s TV rights money, it’s hard to imagine Jack Grealish in the shirt of Leicester City or Wolves, instead of Villa.
Yes, you could imagine Spurs or Chelsea, but anything out of the very top teams, would be a move simply for the money. If he has footballing ambition – then that is either playing in the Champions League or leading Villa to a phoenix-like resurrection from the Championship before a return to European nights at Villa Park.
Hence, the cheeky Wolves suggestion is nothing more than mischief-making.
Does this ‘Grealish to Wolves’ idea deserve any more evaluation?
No. Life is too short.
Media Muppet Rating: 8/10 – A sad waste of time for the reader and writer
UTV
Agreed, all tripe! Only thing I don’t agree with is the £15m valuation Spurs have pulled out of their arse……..Pickford went for £30m after one ‘average’ season which looked better than it was simply because the rest of the Sunderland squad were worse, Danny Drinkwater £30m one-off season with unlikely champs Leicester, Raheem Stirling went for £50m and only had his 1st ‘good’ season last term…..don’t get me wrong, I don’t truly believe Jack is worth £30m (no-one is really!) but it’s the times we are living in and young, talented players command a high fee, why should Villa bend over and get fucked when others clearly don’t!?