Aston Villa will not turn down transfer for ‘Portuguese Jack Grealish’ as £10m shortcut emerges
Aston Villa will not turn down the chance to sign Vitoria de Guimaraes gem Jota Silva during the summer transfer window at Villa Park, according to Alan Hutton.
Reports emerged that Villa were interested in signing the attacking midfielder dubbed the “Portuguese Jack Grealish” because of his similarities in playing style and physical appearance to the Manchester City midfielder [Sunday Mirror, 4 April, page 71]
The 24-year-old reportedly has a £17million release clause in his contract, but with just 12 months remaining on the deal, his club are understood to be willing to reduce that to £10million [The Express, 23 April].
West Ham United, Brighton and Fulham are also thought to be interested in securing the Portuguese international’s signature this summer, but Villa could jump to the front of the queue as their owners have a stake in Vitoria.
While Hutton thinks Villa will be keen on Silva, he does admit that Unai Emery’s focus may be elsewhere in the summer transfer window as he already has several attacking options in his ranks who have flourished in the Premier League.
“I don’t think you’ll ever turn a flair player down,” Hutton told Villa News.
“With the way that the squad is at this moment in time, I do think they have options. When you think of Moussa Diaby who can still get better, Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia will be back, Morgan Rogers has just come in. You’ve got options there.
“He likes to play sometimes with his wingers tucked in a little bit to try and bit more creative as well. I don’t know much about him if I’m totally honest so it is a difficult one to say but they do have options there.
“At striker, you’ve got Ollie Watkins who is in fantastic form and Duran as a backup. Maybe they could bring somebody in to help lighten that load, that could be something they look for come the summer.
“It will be an interesting one for Villa, especially if they got top four, to see what direction they move in. Are they going to push and try and get the players in to take them to the next level?”
Will Aston Villa sign the Portuguese Grealish Jota Silva in the summer transfer window?
As Hutton suggested, Emery is already spoiled for choice when it comes to attacking options at Villa Park. Diaby, Bailey and Rogers have all had impressive seasons while Buendia shone when fit last season.
On top of that, Nicolo Zaniolo’s future remains undecided beyond the end of the season and his initial loan switch. Emery might decide that it is better to invest in a new number nine rather than another attacking midfielder.
At £10million, it could be a gamble worth taking for the Villans as they won’t have much to lose if the switch doesn’t work out for any reason. Whether Emery will see it that way remains to be seen but this could be a deal to keep an eye on.
In other Aston Villa news, Hutton believes Bayern Munich will still want to hire Emery despite a new contract update at Villa Park
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