Man Utd, Man City trail Chelsea for England man but colossal fee expected

Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish England 2020 TEAMtalk

Reports in the Spanish media claim Chelsea are leading the race to sign Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish but may have to dig extremely deep to land their man.

The 25-year-old is one of the hottest properties in British football having taken his game to another level in recent seasons. Despite missing a large chunk of 2020-2021, the midfielder still managed to bag six goals from 26 Premier League appearances. That earned him a spot in England’s Euro 2020 squad after he proved his fitness from a nasty knee injury.

Speculation over the Birmingham-born star’s future has been increasing for some time. Both Manchester United and Manchester City are said to be keen while Chelsea are also known to hold an interest.

And, according to Fichajes (via football.london), the Blues are now ‘favourites’ to sign him despite a huge price tag. He is valued at £58.5m by transfermarkt but it is thought that Villa will demand £100m for his services.

Grealish is under contract until 2025, meaning the Villans are under no pressure to sell. And manager Dean Smith has made it clear he wants the talented schemer to remain at Villa Park.

The man with seven England caps to his name has been at the club since the age of six and loves all things Villa. That could prove to be a key factor in any future plans regardless of the finances involved.

Grealish likened to Portugal legend

Grealish has scored 32 goals from 213 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood club. But he has also assisted many and is not afraid to put in the hard yards as well.

Manchester United legend Roy Keane certain rates him highly. The pundit recently told ITV just why he should be an international regular.

Transfer Chatter - Liverpool identify Wijnaldum replacement, Arsenal to raid RB Leipzig and Gundogan stalling new contract

Transfer Chatter - Liverpool identify Wijnaldum replacement, Arsenal to raid RB Leipzig and Gundogan stalling new contract

Jurgen Klopp has identified his perfect Georgino Wijnaldum replacement, Arsenal ready to raid RB Leipzig with a double swoop and Ilkay Gundogan is stalling on signing a new Manchester City contract, all in today's transfer chatter.

“He’s a pure quality player. Every time I watch him play, he affects the game,” he said. “I’d find it very hard to leave him out of the starting XI. He could be the star man for England, he makes things happen.

“He has courage and always wants the ball in tight areas. Like Cristiano Ronaldo at Portugal, you need players like that in your team. He’s outstanding.”

However, he started on the bench for the Three Lions opening Euro 2020 clash with Croatia. It remains to be seen if Chelsea would be willing to part company with such a huge amount of cash for one player.

But Villa hold all the aces and there is no way that he will be allowed to leave the club on the cheap.

READ MORE: Chelsea, Man Utd alerted to Haaland opportunity through ‘open secret’