Man City willing to break £100m barrier to sign Villa captain Grealish

Manchester City are willing to break the £100m barriers to sign Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish.

The Daily Mail says Grealish has long been admired by Pep Guardiola and City’s manager wants the 25-year-old at the hub of what he hopes he will become the second great team of his reign in Manchester.

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Villa rewarded Grealish last September with a lucrative new contract and the club captain still has four years to run on his deal.

His importance to Dean Smith’s side is huge and, as such, they would not entertain selling their local hero for anything less than a new British transfer record.

City have not had the most expensive player in the Premier League since they signed Robinho for £32.5m at the start of the Abu Dhabi era in September 2008 but there is recognition that recruiting Grealish will come at a premium.

It is unclear at this stage whether City would pursue a straight cash negotiation or there would be scope for players who have struggled for game time this season to be included in the deal – as they did in 2019 when signing Joao Cancelo from Juventus with Danilo used as a makeweight.