Grealish To City? | City bid £100M

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lysglimt

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“Grealish to city and it’s over”

“Grealish and Kane and we might as well throw the towel in”

“Grealish and kane would be unfair competition”

Football just doesn’t work that way, some people on here need to calm the feck down before they have an aneurysm .
Exactly - the summer of 2001. We had just won the League easily with 10 Points - and forked out Close to £50 million on Nistelrooy and Veron. The papers basically wrote the same thing - we couldn't lose.

Oh yes we could
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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In what position would Grealish start for us? Genuinly curious since we have Pogba and Rashford at LW, and Bruno at no10.
Could be like this (our pattern of play vs Aston Villa (A)):
Grealish will take Pogba's role while Pogba will shift to take the deeper's role (Fred).



If you look at vs Villareal (below), we are missing that other player who can drift inside from wide to provide more support for passing option for Bruno and the deep-lying playmaker. And also Bailly was very clueless not be able to find Pogba.
 

theklr

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Could be like this (our pattern of play vs Aston Villa (A)):
Grealish will take Pogba's role while Pogba will shift to take the deeper's role (Fred).



If you look at vs Villareal (below), we are missing that other player who can drift inside from wide to provide more support for passing option for Bruno and the deep-lying playmaker. And also Bailly was very clueless not be able to find Pogba.
That seems very tempting for sure, but wouldnt our midfield be too easy to run through with Pogba in there?

Unless we get a very good CB next to Maguire that is.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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That seems very tempting for sure, but wouldnt our midfield be too easy to run through with Pogba in there?

Unless we get a very good CB next to Maguire that is.
That's probably the big reason why we are looking for a new CB, someone who is bally playing like Lindelof but defensively very good and can win the ball back during one v one. Although, I can't see us signing Grealish due to he will cost much more than Sancho in my opinion.
 

RedRonaldo

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Anyone who watched Shearer play would know he has been the best British CF since Lineker and he won a Premier League title and he played most of his career for the club he loved. I would call that a better career than club hopping and winning a few European titles but that is just my opinion.
But there is no chance for him to win any trophy, nor does he have to chance to play in CL. I think it’s all about players ambition. If he does not care about winning trophies and proving himself in the biggest stage, then it wouldn’t be a problem. But chances are, he may still regret it one day, when he has nothing to brag in front of his children or grandchildren. All he could tell is in future is, he was a PL player back then and at one point attract some interest from Man Utd and City. That’s about it. That’s the only highlight of his career. Maybe also Aston Villa player of season, if that’s important. Nothing else outside the club itself.

I think Shearer career is very similar to Harry Kane though, but we all know Kane wants to leave badly this summer because of lack of silverware. So I am not sure whether Grealish would feel the same too in future.
 
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Lynty

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He seemed nailed on for us before that drink driving episode. We really seemed to cool on him at that point.
 

Damien

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Villa are spending lots of money, like someone is being sold.
Their owners are loaded. Spent £140m+ in 2019, bringing in just £2m from sales and spent £90m+ in 2020, again bringing in just £2m from sales. This window they've already brought in more from sales (£5m). Doubt they'll be selling Grealish as their owner seems to be going all out to make top 6.
 

Adam-Utd

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Villa are spending lots of money, like someone is being sold.
villa have a billionaire owner that wants to get them to the top 4.

there’s a reason why grealish signed a long term deal, he was promised investment.
 

Rozay

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So at City or United he'd be pushed out of his best position to the flanks, because De Bruyne or Bruno?
Pretty much, although he is serviceable from wide. He obviously doesn’t have the pace of a winger though.

In an interview with a United fan he was jokingly asked to sign for United, and his direct response was ‘but you have Bruno though’, which I think says enough about his preferred position.
 

dal

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In what position would Grealish start for us? Genuinly curious since we have Pogba and Rashford at LW, and Bruno at no10.
I’d sell Pogba to part fund it, Grealish is better than him as a LW and in a 4-4-3.

He’s also better than both of Rashford and Pogba on the right, not that I would want him there all the time but guys a straight baller.
 

rotherham_red

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Their owners are loaded. Spent £140m+ in 2019, bringing in just £2m from sales and spent £90m+ in 2020, again bringing in just £2m from sales. This window they've already brought in more from sales (£5m). Doubt they'll be selling Grealish as their owner seems to be going all out to make top 6.
Exactly. The people talking about Buendia being Grealish's replacement aren't factoring in that he does his best work on the opposite flank to Grealish. If he's a replacement for anyone, it's Traore/El Ghazi.

If they keep their recruitment up, I can genuinely see Villa getting into Europe on a consistent basis and once there, maybe even push for the CL spots like Leicester have done.
 

2 man midfield

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If Villa had gone down the season before last, I think he’d be here now. Don’t think we’re in for him anymore, and I don’t think Villa would sell. Can’t see how a deal happens now either way.
 

dal

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There is no reason at all why we couldn’t play this and make it work.

————————Greenwood———————
Rashford—-Grealish——Bruno——Sancho
——————————-Fred—————————

It just needs the right coaching, if our coaches can’t get it to work then we can play 2 in midfield but it still gives us a load of options.

Rashford, Sancho, Fred, Bruno they all work very hard, Grealish can aswell. It’s not like Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Aguero worked as hard as they did until Pep came in.
 

sullydnl

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I’d sell Pogba to part fund it, Grealish is better than him as a LW and in a 4-4-3.

He’s also better than both of Rashford and Pogba on the right, not that I would want him there all the time but guys a straight baller.
Which games have you seen him play at RW?
 

lilcurt

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There is no reason at all why we couldn’t play this and make it work.

————————Greenwood———————
Rashford—-Grealish——Bruno——Sancho
——————————-Fred—————————

It just needs the right coaching, if our coaches can’t get it to work then we can play 2 in midfield but it still gives us a load of options.

Rashford, Sancho, Fred, Bruno they all work very hard, Grealish can aswell. It’s not like Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Aguero worked as hard as they did until Pep came in.
No, just no.
 

bosnian_red

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I think De Bruyne and Gundogan are nailed on for the centre, if they get Kane then he’s up top.

Whereas I think Grealish starts for man United in our best team, I’m not so sure it’s as clear cut with city. Mahrez and Foden are already brilliant there.
I don't think its that clear cut for us either, because he happens to play in our strongest positions. If rashford is fit and firing I would still take him over Grealish on the left due to his goalscoring. Pogba can be world class on the left. Bruno is world class as the 10 and is ahead of Grealish.

Grealish hasn't shown he can play anywhere else, so comparing United and City, it's Rashford vs Foden or Sterling in which case at their peak levels, I like Rashford here for his range of ability (for now).
 
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Pretty much, although he is serviceable from wide. He obviously doesn’t have the pace of a winger though.

In an interview with a United fan he was jokingly asked to sign for United, and his direct response was ‘but you have Bruno though’, which I think says enough about his preferred position.
Yeah Grealish is deciding on the move of his career - i doubt being shunted out wide is what he would go for. And it would be silly for United to slurge our transfer budget on him to then shoe horn him into the team out of position.

Perhaps Chelsea or Liverpool would be better moves for him? (Not that I want to see it)
 
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There is no reason at all why we couldn’t play this and make it work.

————————Greenwood———————
Rashford—-Grealish——Bruno——Sancho
——————————-Fred—————————
I known it's a cliche response but this is a Fifa formation, not one you'd ever see Uniter play in real life.
 

bosnian_red

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There is no reason at all why we couldn’t play this and make it work.

————————Greenwood———————
Rashford—-Grealish——Bruno——Sancho
——————————-Fred—————————

It just needs the right coaching, if our coaches can’t get it to work then we can play 2 in midfield but it still gives us a load of options.

Rashford, Sancho, Fred, Bruno they all work very hard, Grealish can aswell. It’s not like Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Aguero worked as hard as they did until Pep came in.
There is every reason it wouldn't work... its not about working hard. Those players at City had a world class defensive midfielder with Fernandinho behind them and a possession oriented style with the players being excellent passers. Silva is on another world with controlling/passing compared to Bruno/De Bruyne/Grealish.

Grealish at United would compete with 2 players - Bruno and Rashford. Neither work in any other position. That's all there is to it. Hes not coming to United, the ship has sailed and I don't mind at all because I prefer Bruno to him as a 10 and Rashfords top level is what I'd prefer on the left with play style (combined with who he is as a person). Would be great if he could play on the right. But he never has. Equally would be great if we can get Sancho for our right wing, who just so happens can actually play on the right and is 5 years younger than Grealish.
 

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villa have a billionaire owner that wants to get them to the top 4.

there’s a reason why grealish signed a long term deal, he was promised investment.
Bingo.

Net spend of current Premier League clubs since the start of the 2019/2020 season that have been in the Premier League for the whole time:

Aston Villa: £224.18m (not including Buendia)
Manchester United: £189.36m
Manchester City: £173.85m
Tottenham Hotspur: £163.08m
Arsenal: £155.78m
Everton: £99.85m
Wolverhampton Wanderers: £87.57m
West Ham United: £68.6m
Newcastle United: £68.38m
Brighton & Hove Albion: £66.91m
Chelsea: £64.02m
Liverpool: £43.43m (including Konate for £36m)
Southampton: £38.07m
Leicester City: £18.02m
Burnley: £1.44m
Crystal Palace: -£40.84m

Dean Smith a few days ago: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...a-owners-elite-club-dean-smith-premier-league

“From my interactions with the owners so far, they are very astute businessmen who have a strategic plan for Aston Villa,” said Smith. “Part of that plan is to go and compete with the upper echelons of this league. That’s where they want the club to go, they want to grow the brand of Aston Villa football club all across the world as well. But they are also aware that takes time.

“I speak to them regularly during our board calls and they are very ambitious but the key word is ‘strategic’. They build a plan and then they follow it through. Every Aston Villa fan can feel in safe hands with these owners.”
“You look at the infrastructure and their brand new training ground, which is incredible,” Smith said. “Our owners are doing exactly the same at our training ground at Aston Villa. Hopefully the Midlands is thriving again. Obviously Leicester are the ones we look up to at the moment and try to emulate – and hopefully pass.”

He is well aware that progress in the Premier League becomes harder the higher a team goes. “I am never one to temper ambitions because our ambitions are to keep progressing and growing but I think to climb from 17th to 11th is a lot easier than to climb from 11th to the top six or seven because of the size of the clubs who are there.”
Smith does not expect to make a raft of transfers this summer but is eyeing a few additions. “We feel again let’s go and get quality over quantity … We proved last season with the ones we got in – Ollie Watkins, Emi Martínez, Bertrand Traoré and Matt Cash – that we were quite astute. Hopefully we can do more of the same.”
 

Adisa

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If Villa had gone down the season before last, I think he’d be here now. Don’t think we’re in for him anymore, and I don’t think Villa would sell. Can’t see how a deal happens now either way.
There were many reports we were looking to buy him for £40m from a relegated Villa. It would cost £100m to buy him.
I don't think he's going anywhere for the foreseeable. City wont spend that much on him.
 

Sandikan

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Exactly - the summer of 2001. We had just won the League easily with 10 Points - and forked out Close to £50 million on Nistelrooy and Veron. The papers basically wrote the same thing - we couldn't lose.

Oh yes we could
In fairness that was also the season Fergie made it known he was retiring. That didn't help.
Plus we binned off all time Premier league great Stam and brought in slow as snails Blanc!
But yes, generally you're right.
 

Sandikan

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villa have a billionaire owner that wants to get them to the top 4.

there’s a reason why grealish signed a long term deal, he was promised investment.
I wonder if that actually affected his decision that much?

Boyhood fan, star player in a team built around him, incredible wage and carries on living where he's from.
That stuff all massively adds up on the benefits side too.

Players will repeatedly sign on for long term on higher wages where they are, and not worry about whether it affects someone being able to buy them later on.

He strikes me as someone who would leave in a second if they went down, but would take a lot of convincing otherwise.
 

AltiUn

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I get confused, is he a boyhood Villa fan or not. Because it seemed he was very much cheering us on at one point when he was younger.
He might've supported United and Villa. I used to go to every PNE game when I was younger but was born and raised as a United fan and basically ended up supporting both teams, perhaps a similar situation with Grealish?
 

manc exile

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He might've supported United and Villa. I used to go to every PNE game when I was younger but was born and raised as a United fan and basically ended up supporting both teams, perhaps a similar situation with Grealish?
you cant support two teams in the same country
its not right
 

yamo123x

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There is no reason at all why we couldn’t play this and make it work.

————————Greenwood———————
Rashford—-Grealish——Bruno——Sancho
——————————-Fred—————————

It just needs the right coaching, if our coaches can’t get it to work then we can play 2 in midfield but it still gives us a load of options.

Rashford, Sancho, Fred, Bruno they all work very hard, Grealish can aswell. It’s not like Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Aguero worked as hard as they did until Pep came in.
No chance.

Fred on his own, no chance
 

yamo123x

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I get confused, is he a boyhood Villa fan or not. Because it seemed he was very much cheering us on at one point when he was younger.
I know a few people close to the family, Jack was a utd fan when young. But villa was his hometown club and the team who gave him his opportunity in football
 

theklr

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From Ogdens article on City’s interest: «Guardiola believes that the addition of Grealish could give his team the extra quality required to finally win the Champions League next season»

I mean come on...

Most pampered manager of all time. If Ole had lost a CL final with that squad he would be hounded back to Norway, but Pep somehow convinces the owners the quality he has already isnt good enough...
 

croadyman

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I know you shouldn't wish a team to get relegated but Villa staying up totally scuppered any hope of him being a Utd player
 

visiting villain

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If Villa had gone down the season before last, I think he’d be here now. Don’t think we’re in for him anymore, and I don’t think Villa would sell. Can’t see how a deal happens now either way.
I've heard that if we had gone down, there was a deal in place with you guys, but us staying up I think closed the deal on any move away
I get confused, is he a boyhood Villa fan or not. Because it seemed he was very much cheering us on at one point when he was younger.
Yeah, he's a boyhood Villa fan. There's pictures of him at like age 6 in the full villa kit. His whole family is villa mad apparently. His great grandfather Billy Garraty won the FA Cup with us in 1905 so it's been a family thing
 

rotherham_red

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He's doing a reverse Coutinho. Stayed when he could and probably should have left and is now starting to see the project at his hometown club blossom.

Villa are a team I'd definitely keep my eye on for next season, vis-a-vis the European places. Though I think Newcastle, if that court case goes the way of the Saudis (which I am expecting unfortunately), might put a spanner in the works for Villa's plans.
 

Zoo

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Maybe I’m wrong but struggle to see him in a Pep team, everyone gets drilled and not always with completely success, see what’s happened to Bernardo Silva. Grealish wants freedom to go where he wants with the play going through him. He’s a United player.
 

Diabovermelho

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City'll probably have to spend around £ 250m to get both Kane and Grealish this summer, so i don't see it happening, even with all the money they have.

They could, of course, entertain offers for the likes of Silva, Sterling or even Jesus to help them, but i still don't think they'll do it.
 
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