Well, this was a nice thing to wake up to. Sky Sports News is reporting this morning that Aston Villa have indeed rejected Tottenham Hotspur’s bid for Jack Grealish. Spurs lodged a bid on Tuesday night of £25m for the midfielder, with the clubs reportedly close to an agreement after days of negotiations.
However, it seems Villa’s new ownership is drawing a line in the sand. Not only did they reject Spurs’ bid, they declared that he’s not for sale at all, with new chairman Nassef Sawiris saying he “is not interested in their money.”
TRANSFER CENTRE
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 8, 2018
Big news coming out of #AVFC
Spurs' £25m for Jack Grealish rejected outright, and he's "going nowhere" this window, says Villa's new executive chairman
Detail here: https://t.co/tD22ZUkq7y pic.twitter.com/bGiqAV2Lse
I mean, the “going nowhere” part is clearly bulls—t. Villa need to sell players to make up a FFP deficit of around £40m, and most of that could be wiped out through the sale of Grealish. Considering the OTHER great Championship player from last season, James Maddison, went to Leicester in this window for £24m, Spurs’ bid seems eminently reasonable.
I figured this would be coming, but I can also guarantee you one thing: this story isn’t over.