Stealing Aston Villa star Jack Grealish from under the noses of long-term admirers Tottenham Hotspur would represent a major step in the right direction for West Ham’s future ambitions.
According to the Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur are favourites to secure Grealish’s signature this summer, having already come close to completing a £25 million deal last year.
The Championship star has since signed a five-year contract with Villa, but we are not entirely convinced, and his fresh commitment could prove to be a moot obstacle in the Premier League’s pursuit for one of its missing English stars, and with West Ham and Bournemouth now entering the fray, we imagine this already buzzing transfer saga will reach boiling point soon enough.
Indeed, Aston Villa’s most prized possession has been on the books for a top-flight switch for some time now, and the Hammers could snatch his services from the hands of Mauricio Pochettino if they are willing to release Manuel Pellegrini on another spending spree.
Pellegrini’s men have been relatively poor this campaign, and standout performances from inherently average players like Robert Snodgrass, who surely cannot be relied upon again next term, has really reiterated the need to introduce some quality talents to improve on impending midtable misery.
And West Ham’s pursuit of Grealish could be boosted by the fact that he will likely need to leave his boyhood club if he wants to enter Gareth Southgate’s future plans.
“Jack worked with us in the Under-21s briefly,” Southgate said when asked about Grealish’s absence (as per the Mirror).
“The difficulty is always that, although we can see the quality, he’s at a different level and it’s hard to directly correlate what that will look like at a level above. With Callum, he’s playing Europa League, he’s playing Premier League, that makes a difference.
“I’m not going to say we won’t pick from the Championship, as that could happen, but it’s far more difficult to assess his level.
“You see certain parts of the game, but not others. Not the physicality at times, nor the tactical discipline.
“That’s at another level in the Premier League, the speed, the pace. So, Jack’s a player we know all about, he’s a player we track.
“But that last bit of evidence, which could give you confidence to pick him, we haven’t seen.”
Grealish would provide a huge boost to a forward lineup that has largely gone missing this season, and added a bit of much-needed dynamism to proceedings where it has been typically lacking under current answerless players.
West Ham fans, would you be happy to see Grealish playing for you next season?