Aston Villa: No, £20 million does not come close for Jack Grealish

Leicester City scouts have reportedly been watching Jack Grealish all-season long. The Foxes plan to pursue Aston Villa’s creative attacker in the summer transfer window.

Per The Mirror, Leicester City will aggressively pursue Jack Grealish should Aston Villa fail to go up. The sum? A paltry £20 million for a player on the ascension of hopefully a long, healthy career.

At 22, Grealish is finally enjoying that breakthrough season that has alluded him every year since his debut, aged 18. Grealish’s story is a constant reminder in sports that growth is never linear, nor is it ever guaranteed. Just because a young player excels at 19 does not mean he/she will exceed expectations the following year at 20.

This season, though, Grealish put it all together following recovery from a freak kidney injury in the club’s final pre-season tune-up. He has put together three goals and five assists across 1,664 minutes of league football. The statistics paint a picture, but not necessarily a clear one. Grealish is consistently excellent across nearly every aspect of the game. His tape shows a player worthy of not only Premier League football, but also international consideration.

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When Villa are down, Grealish is usually the stand-out. When the team around him is doing well, good luck to the opposition. This is what makes Leicester City reportedly so intrigued. The Foxes’ interest in Grealish as a No.10 behind Jamie Vardy, alongside Riyad Mahrez and in front of Wilfied Ndidi, is potentially frightening.

But the £20 million sum simply does not cut it. Even should the claret and blues fail to be promoted, Grealish is contracted for two further seasons until 2020. The value of playing Grealish for two more seasons outweighs the benefit of £20 million, which in itself does not correct all of Aston Villa’s financial problems.

Nor does it offer the requisite funds to build the next promotion-contending squad.

Hanging on to Jack, barring an Earth-shattering bid for the player’s services, is the wise move for Dr. Tony Xia & Co. At least until the club has a better handle of what they will be able to spend.

So, sorry, Leicester. £20 million does not come close for Super Jack, yet.