Jack Grealish

[Spartan Spurs]

I think you are right here Trix. Touched upon it in the ITK thread last night.

Just seems like the same old Levy tricks and puts more doubt on whether we really are going to be stepping up the quality of recruitment this summer.

I think if we'd swapped Martial for Toby already and brought De Ligt in, the deal would look much better. Even more so if we got a solid Dembele replacement beforehand and this was a 'bonus' signing.

Agreed that if the other business was already done, then OK, not a bad signing & see the logic.

Yet after all the hype about us stepping up with added funds & increased wages to attract better players, but then to begin with Grealish simply adds 'meh' to the 'meh' & people have a reflex reaction that seems so familiar.

Nevertheless, I'm still optimistic & have faith (a bit better than hope) that we get our targets. And hope to God that @dtxspurs fears don't come to fruition about not having the funds later in the window to get a desired &/or attractive target that may have suddenly become available.

 

[LeSoupeKitchen]

I think Grealish is absolute class. Under Poch he could be sensational. If this is a 'meh' signing then that's exciting for who else we might bring in.

 

[thfc1989]

Have there actually been any media links to him other than the original Daily Star article?

 

[BigPlimpton]

Can’t see him getting more than 6-7 cup games a season unless two out of Dele, Eriksen, Lucas or Lamela get hurt. And if that happens, we’re f*ucked anyway and it’s all futile. Hope Levy doesn’t get cocky and spend more than Llorente money on this one. So...
#WelcomeGrealish
?

 

[bat-chain]

Classic Levy. Aston Villa on their knees financially, we grab their best player.

Our recovery as a club around 2005 was built on these kind of deals. Frustrating thing is Villa really do only have one good player so we can’t take full advantage.

We need UK trained players and if Pochettino can develop Grealish we're sorted. Only problem is you sense he needs game time to continue progressing, how much would he get with us I wonder.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

At least we won’t get sucked into a bidding war with, well, anyone

I take the point that if we’d already bought a bunch of stars, then this would be fine.

But we haven’t. So this is just cash outlay on someone none of the other top 6 (even Arsenal) would even give the time of day and who won’t be in first team. It’s also a bit of a kick in the nuts for the multitude of young CMs we have coming through.

I’ve seen him a bit. I thought he looked good in the Championship. Less good than Maddison, but good. I’m just not excited by that sort of assessment.

I hope I’m wrong obviously but as usual, two weeks into the window it feels expectations are being dialled down...just for a change.

 

[Clark28]

Pritchard was Jack's age when he smashed it at Brentford, having a better season than what Jack has just had at Villa.

But he was deemed to be surplus to requirements (he was unlucky with injury too)

But if Poch wants him then I do to.

 

[LDNYid]

I wonder if people would be so against signing Grealish if we had already signed a couple of higher profile players first.

An excellent point. If he were one amongst some then I think people would generally accept him as a punt worth taking. As he seems like he maybe the first, many will be underwhelmed. However, we should have all learnt to take the transfer window as a whole...

 

[Spurs' Pipe Dreams]

My opinion, the kid is talented, very talented, both feet, can take on a player and has a swagger. Kinda reminds me of Gazza in his pomp. In the playoff final, he took on 4/5 players and beat them all and was unlucky that the angle and the keeper made it impossible to score.

We have needed someone who can do that in the final 1/3 and although we have Moura (new), Lamela (injuries) and Son (hot and cold), Grealish has that ability in the middle of the park (like Dembele but further up the field) and possibly can unlock defences that sit back and put 10/11 behind the ball, something we've really struggled against (but so does everyone, except maybe City).

The young man has had issues in the past but tbh with that sort of pressure and money, most teenagers will have some sort of growing pains. From the outside looking in, it looks like those are now past him and in interviews and more importantly on the pitch he seems to have matured into a quality professional.

I'd be very surprised if our management has not spoken to Josh Onomah about his training ethos and attitude and we've obviously been given good news on that front.

At £20m it's a steal, admittedly still a risk but then buying young players always is. If and I admit it is an if, Jack buys into the Pochettino family and work ethic, we could have an incredibly talented English superstar on our hands.

As many know who play 'Football Manager' buying a "wonderkid" may not always work out, this may be the case IRL too. I think it's a little weird to let Edwards go and buy Grealish but if we have a buyback on option on Edwards that would make sense too, anyway it looks like this transfer is happening and my tuppence worth is that at the quoted £20m in today's market we'd be stupid not to take an informed risk on him

 

[Lennon1981]

I actually think people may be surprised, poch clearly wanted Barkley who is an ‘AM’ with the idea of playing him as a ‘CM’ so what’s to say he hasn’t got the same idea for Grealish?

As I said previously he’s got a lot of Jack Wiltshire about the way he plays so that is a possibility.

Also people should remember how many times Sissoko managed to get on the pitch last season... I’d much rather bring Grealish on than Sissoko plus he’d be homegrown which is important I think.

 

[teok]

I'm pretty ambivalent on grealish. I think what counts against him is that most people know him from the tabloid headlines from a few years back which seem to amount to "teenager gets drunk with mates".

Try and imagine watching his highlight vid if he was playing in foreign league and you didn't know him. He is a slick player. Again though I don't really feel strongly one way or the other.

 

[spursfan77]

Classic Levy. Aston Villa on their knees financially, we grab their best player.

Our recovery as a club around 2005 was built on these kind of deals. Frustrating thing is Villa really do only have one good player so we can’t take full advantage.

We need UK trained players and if Pochettino can develop Grealish we're sorted. Only problem is you sense he needs game time to continue progressing, how much would he get with us I wonder.

Exactly. Might as well save the money for a really good player and give onomah a go.

 

[blackburn]

I hoped that this transfer window was the one where we bought a couple of marquee signings to improve the starting X1, it may well turn out that way. Last season Grealish played 31 times, 3 goals and 6 assists. If that is the extent of our ambition and pulling power I'm going to be very disappointed.

In fact I'm already very disappointed that Grealish, Shaqiri and Rondon have threads of their own. They do nothing to improve on what we already have.

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

I think he would be a very decent squad player and i'm not against the signing as long as we also bring in real high quality and show ambition in regards positions we really need to - like a central midfielder.

 

[Spurs' Pipe Dreams]

Exactly. Might as well save the money for a really good player and give onomah a go.

Different positions, Onomah is a CM, Grealish an AM

 

[PhezTHFC]

I am quite surprised how many people are hating on this lad. The guy was praised constantly at youth level and rated to be a future star then I think it went to his head and he started to do stupid stuff.

This lads potential if his attitude stays the same he can seriously help us out. Who would you rather bring on Grealish or sissoko? I mean that's a no brainer for me. He already improves that area. He reads a game very well and plays very intricate passes and glides by people. With better players he will improve further.
Give the lad a chance, just because you all want a star doesn't mean we aren't signing one just he has become available on the cheap and we wanted him. It's got Levy all over it but if it works out and even if it doesn't we have lost nothing so what's the issue?!

 

[Klinsmannesque]

People whining about Grealish not being the marquee signing we need - why would we spend £60m on a backup player anyway? That's all he will be, he's young, has potential, has ability, and will be cheaper than other targets. Also HG. Pulisic for £60m, although I am a fan of his, won't happen because we don't have the space to accommodate enough playing time for that outlay - especially if we want Martial as well.

If it means we have more money in the budget for a CM and Martial then what's the issue? Surely people can see why this is being pursued?

 

[Anurag Jo]

Just browsing through the villa forum one can find out how highly they rate him. Almost all think he has world class potential and good enough to be a starter in our team in short time.

 

[jurgen]

If it means we have more money in the budget for a CM and Martial then what's the issue? Surely people can see why this is being pursued?

Big old ifs.

 

[thelak]

I’ve seen a bit of him this season - if he was a foreign player that hadn’t been in the media for falling asleep off his face in the street in Magaluf or whoever and didn’t look like a bit of a knob with that hair on skill set alone people would be getting excited at the right price as v talented