Aston Villa Ready to Battle Everton for Jack Grealish Return

Aston Villa are ready to rival Everton for Jack Grealish’s signature, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal. 

Our sources have been told Unai Emery is plotting an emotional Villa Park return for the former fan favourite, who looks set to leave Manchester City at the end of the season. 

Everton boss David Moyes is understood to be keen to move quickly as he envisages a number of suitors for Grealish’s services.

Sources close to the club have told SportsBoom Villa believe they have the upper hand with European football virtually secured and given Grealish’s history with the club.

But Moyes is determined to ensure Grealish is part of his squad next season after impressing on loan at the Toffees this term before being ruled out for the rest of the campaign through injury. 

The 30-year-old started his career at Villa and left the club for Manchester City for a whopping £100million, the biggest fee ever for an English player, in 2021 and the most a British club had ever paid for a player before Alexander Isak’s £125million switch from Newcastle United to Liverpool last summer.

Villa have also recently been linked with another former attacker, Marco Asensio, after attempting to sign him permanently from PSG, but the Spaniard chose to test himself in Turkey with Fenerbahce, where he has since excelled.

History Maker

Grealish penned a six-year deal at the Etihad when he made the career-defining move and will have a year left on his contract come the end of the season.

It is understood City chiefs will look to offload the wing wizard this summer to ensure they get a transfer fee, although their asking price, understood to be upwards of £35million, could prove a potential stumbling block. 

Grealish was club captain at Villa, where he spent the best part of two decades, when he made the move to the blue side of Manchester.

He played a part in three successive Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola and was a key figure in the famous treble-winning campaign in 2022/23 when the club lifted their first ever Champions League.