‘Two’ Man City exit options open for Jack Grealish as Aston Villa ‘won’t go anywhere near’

Manchester City winger Jack Grealish has been told that former club Aston Villa “won’t go anywhere near” if he pushes to quit The Etihad this summer, with two main options open to the England man.

Grealish has never been able to live up to his record-breaking £100million price tag after moving to Manchester City from Villa during the 2021 summer transfer window.

Indeed, the 29-year-old has never really truly adapted his game to fit in with Pep Guardiola’s style of football and is now dropping down the pecking order after the arrivals of Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Omar Marmoush in recent times to leave his future at the club in doubt.

It was reported over the weekend that the door is open for Grealish to move on this summer, despite the fact he still has two more years left on his contract.

A return to Aston Villa has consistently been mooted in recent years, but former Villa Park frontman Stan Collymore has explained why he is against that particular outcome.

“No. I sincerely hope not. I think Jack’s output is nowhere near the required level,” Collymore said.

“If you look at the two players that have been brought in, [Marco] Asensio and [Marcus] Rashford, they can play either side of Ollie Watkins. There is a question mark over both – can they do it, will they do it? They have got pedigree.

“Jack, really, going to Manchester City and being a part of the treble-winning team – even then he wasn’t the main man, that was Kevin De Bruyne. He was good but not great.

“Last season, a stat of scoring one goal in just over a year… I don’t think he goes past people any more. [Jeremy] Doku when he first came into the team did that, [Omar] Marmoush you imagine will do that.”

Two options open for Grealish

Instead of a Villa return, Collymore can see Grealish moving to the Saudi Pro League or Premier League rivals West Ham instead.

He added: “Jack might end up going somewhere like Saudi because I’m struggling to see a top four, five or six team that would take him. The traditional top four or five, wages and fee would be a problem.

“If you are an aspiring club, Newcastle could go and buy anybody that’s young and hungry and fresh, likewise Villa.

“If you are one of the clubs like Bournemouth and Brighton, you probably couldn’t afford him. You could probably see him at a club like West Ham, bizarrely, because they have got the money and London as clout.

“I’m absolutely sure that Unai Emery won’t be going anywhere near Jack Grealish. Great emotional story, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Grealish has scored twice and has five assists in 23 games in all competitions for City this season, but only 11 of those outings have come in the starting XI – further evidence that his City career is on the decline as Guardiola starts a rebuild after his side’s struggles this term.

Latest Man City news: Pep eyes double Bundesliga raid / Cambiaso agent on City talks

City are reportedly set to launch moves for Bayer Leverkusen duo Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong in a summer swoop that’ll cost around £170million.

The Premier League champions were Europe’s biggest spenders in January after splashing out around £180m on Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and others.

Pep Guardiola retains the full backing of the Man City board despite the club’s poor form this season and is set to embark on a rebuild of his side that could include the highly-rated Bundesliga pair.

Meanwhile, the agent of Juventus star Andrea Cambiaso has opened up on negotiations that took place over a transfer to City during the January transfer window.

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