Jack Grealish's next move is a no-brainer

Telegraph

3 days ago

Hours after Telegraph Sport broke the news that Jack Grealish will spend this summer looking for a new home, rather than compete in the Club World Cup for Manchester City, the former England star posted a picture on social media that set hearts of some Aston Villa supporters fluttering.
Villa fans did not need to read the caption to know that Grealish had posed for a picture next to the club's bearded, former defender Olof Mellberg, who looked like he had walked straight off the set of a Star Wars movie.
Signed off with claret-and-blue hearts, Grealish wrote the message: 'Not many people that I get starstruck over but this guy is one! Big Olof Mellberg. One of my boyhood heroes.'
The picture was seized upon by online Villa fans hungry for any summer transfer hints and, in many ways, it provided a reminder that Grealish's next move should really be a no-brainer. Where better to revive his career under a manager with one of the best track records for rejuvenating players than at his boyhood club?
Grealish really is one of Villa's own, having watched the likes of Mellberg, who played for the club from 2001 to 2008, from the stands before eventually captaining the side that returned to the Premier League under Dean Smith. Until recently, there was still a picture of Smith and Grealish holding the play-off trophy on the back of the North Stand.
But a return to Villa, to play under Unai Emery, would be by no means straightforward this summer, with Grealish and his family bruised by the reception he received last December in City's 2-1 defeat at Villa Park.
Grealish would not have expected a standing ovation and would have even relished some good-natured stick, but the volume of the booing he received came as a shock to his system. Family members, who had always been welcomed and encouraged back by the club, were put off revisiting Villa Park for the remainder of the season.
Bridges were undoubtedly burned that day in December, but football is a fickle business and Grealish need only look at another of Villa's former stars, a player he would have watched as a supporter of the club.
Ashley Young was mercilessly heckled every time he returned to Villa Park as a Manchester United player and yet was treated as a returning hero when he re-signed for the club in the same summer Grealish left for City.
It is hard to imagine anything other than Grealish being greeted with open arms by the Holte End were he ever to wear the claret and blue again. Shirt sales bearing his name would almost certainly rocket, with his trademark haircut spawning a new wave of copycat styles among young fans and some older supporters who should really know better.
Jack Grealish produced this moment of magic at Old Trafford, #OnThisDay in 2019. 🪄 pic.twitter.com/o6MtYFQFzK
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 1, 2023
Grealish remains close to and still calls his old Villa manager Smith 'gaffer' – and his advice would no doubt be to go back to the place where he became a star. Some of his old friends and team-mates, John McGinn, Ross Barkley and Tyrone Mings, are still at the club.
But aside from the romance and the relationship counselling that may need to take place, there is also the financial reality of a move for Grealish. Failure to qualify for the Champions League has left Villa, in their own words, facing a difficult summer and making the numbers add up would not be easy.
Given he left for a then British record fee of £100 million to earn in the region of £300,000 a week at City, Grealish will not come cheap – even on loan.
Villa need to find money to satisfy Premier League profit and sustainability rules, while their wage bill is dangerously high given Uefa's squad cost ratio restrictions which the club are expected to comply with to compete in the Europa League.
It is anticipated that there will be plenty of interest in Grealish from the Premier League and overseas, but a move is not expected to be arranged or finalised quickly given the costs involved and his reputation.
One sporting director contacted by Telegraph Sport this week indicated their club might be interested in Grealish, but added: 'He has to get his lifestyle in order.' That may or may not be a fair or accurate opinion, but it is undoubtedly a barrier that the player and his representatives must overcome.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has hinted at a similar concern, but admitted he 'loves' Grealish and there will be coaches who will want their sporting directors and owners to look past some of the pre-conceived ideas about the 29-year-old.
It is unknown whether a move abroad would suit Grealish, but he cannot have failed to have noticed how Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour have succeeded at Napoli and won a Serie A title along the way. AC Milan has been a popular Italian retreat for English players wanting a fresh start, while moves to Spain have been successful for Kieran Trippier and Conor Gallagher.
Staff at City talk with genuine warmth and affection about a player who goes out of his way to make people feel good and give something back to disadvantaged young fans. Grealish's team-mates tell the story of a player who was giving his all in the final weeks and months of the season to try to force his way into Pep Guardiola's side without much success.
He was hurt by not playing any part in the FA Cup final defeat by Crystal Palace after playing in each previous round and starring in the semi-final victory over Nottingham Forest at Wembley.
That is most likely when the penny dropped for Grealish that a City exit – permanently or on loan – is his only option this summer if he wants to play regularly again and the club's decision not to take him to the Club World Cup appears best for all parties.
He cannot afford any off-the-field slip-ups this summer, which he now has free to best prepare for the next chapter of his career. Whether that's back at Villa or elsewhere, it would be premature to write Grealish off just yet.