Since completing his British record move to Manchester City for £100m, it’s been revealed that Aston Villa preferred to sell Jack Grealish to either Manchester United or Real Madrid.
In the end, there was nothing the Villain’s could do because City were the only ones willing to meet his release clause and, according to The Sun, Grealish’s representatives made it clear that he only wanted to sign for Pep Guardiola’s swashbucklers.
It’s been suggested that a lack of competitiveness in the league and City’s dominance of it was behind Villa’s stance, and were they to get Harry Kane aswell, the other 19 teams could kiss goodbye to the title for years to come.
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The Athletic detail the release clause, common in the rest of Europe but not so in England, was put in Grealish’s deal with Villa last summer.
It meant that any team that could offer Champions League football and met the clause would be able to sign the player, regardless of Villa’s wishes.
That they were prepared to be a little underhand in terms of any negotiation, shows how badly they didn’t want their captain to leave for the reigning champions.