Aston Villa Didn't Want To Sell Jack Grealish To Man City And 'Sounded Out' Two Massive Clubs

Aston Villa reportedly 'opened talks' with Manchester United and Real Madrid for Jack Grealish - as they didn't want to sell him to Manchester City.

The 25-year-old sealed a £100 million move to the Etihad earlier this week and he's the most expensive player in the history of English football.

It has been reported that Villa attempted to delay the transfer by opening a dialogue with other clubs.

According to The Athletic, the two clubs who were contacted are Manchester United and Real Madrid.

United had been linked with Grealish last summer and would've been willing to make a fresh move in 2022.

But the signing of Jadon Sancho means the Red Devils could only offer a swap deal rather than cash.

In the case of Madrid, the Spanish giants are in no financial position to make a move and again would've required some kind of swap.

Villa are said to be worried by City's dominance in the Premier League thanks to their massive transfer budget.

Grealish is also the fourth Villa star to have joined City in the last 12 years after Gareth Barry in 2009, James Milner in 2010 and Fabian Delph in 2015.

PA

Villa were able to stall the transfer as City were unaware of the £100 million release clause in Grealish's contract, with the clause set to expire this weekend.

Dean Smith went about replacing the England international with Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia and Danny Ings respectively.

City take on Leicester in the Community Shield later this evening and manager Pep Guardiola has stressed Grealish isn't ready to start yet.

"He's not ready to start at all," Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference.

"He was one week training alone, but he'll travel with us tomorrow to settle in the team and with meetings.

"He'll be on the bench. After, we will see what happens, but in the beginning? No way."

City are still hoping to sign Harry Kane before the transfer window slams shut.

Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva and three other players are keen to leave this summer.

Topics: Manchester City, Aston Villa, Football, Manchester United, Transfers, Jack Grealish, England, Real Madrid

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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