Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move to sign Jack Grealish from Manchester City.
The England international was one of the best players in the Premier League during his time at Aston Villa, but his role has diminished at City in recent years.
The 29-year-old has started just 14 games in all competitions under Pep Guardiola this season and has played just 34 minutes in the Premier League since the turn of the year.
That has led to speculation that Grealish could be on the market, and Tottenham have been linked with a move to sign him from Manchester City.
Jack Grealish has to do one thing if he wants to join Tottenham
Grealish’s future is up in the air.
The Englishman, on his day, has what it takes to win games on his own, but at Manchester City, he is nowhere near the top of Guardiola’s pecking order.
Fabrizio Romano revealed recently that Grealish could leave City in the summer transfer window, and it will be interesting to see how many options he will have.
Reports claimed that Tottenham were interested in signing Grealish in January, but no move materialised in the winter window.
It remains unclear if Spurs will make a move for him in the summer, but if Grealish wants to go to Tottenham, he will have to do one thing – reduce his wages.
That’s according to GiveMeSport, who claim that the Manchester City star currently earns around £300,000-a-week at the Etihad.
Tottenham’s highest-earner Son Heung-min, on the other hand, pockets £200,000-a-week.
The report claims that Spurs will be unable to match Grealish’s current wages, and the former Aston Villa man, if he wants the move, ‘would have to accept a considerable pay cut, potentially as much as 33 per cent.’
The real reason why Tottenham did not sign Jack Grealish in 2018
Tottenham were really keen to sign Grealish from Aston Villa in 2018.
The Villans had failed to achieve promotion back to the Premier League, and their financial constraints at the time meant that they had to sell their best players.
Daniel Levy saw an opportunity, and he tabled a bid of £3 million plus Josh Onomah. That, unsurprisingly, was rejected by Villa.
Spurs slowly upped their bids but by the time they could offer a big fee, Villa had found new investors and they were no longer in need of cash.
Tottenham’s final offer of £25 million was also turned down.
Then-Aston-Villa boss Steve Bruce publicly claimed in August 2018, as per The Athletic: “We were in such a bad position financially that if Tottenham had done their work early, then I’m sure Jack would have been a Tottenham player.”
