Jack Grealish unlikely to want Aston Villa return after what fans have done to him at Villa Park
Don Goodman cited the treatment of a minority of fans towards Jack Grealish in the past as one reason why a return to Aston Villa anytime soon should be ruled out.
Grealish left Villa Park for Manchester City in a £100million deal three years ago – a then British transfer record – and has won seven trophies during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
However, the England international is coming off the back of another mixed campaign in which he started just 10 games in the Premier League, leading to murmurs of a possible summer exit.
Former Villa player Alan Hutton recently suggested that Grealish now has a big decision to make, especially if his old club – now in the Champions League – show an interest.
However, Goodman does not expect Grealish to depart City in the upcoming transfer window for a variety of reasons – the treatment from supporters who jeered him in the past being one of them.
“You need to ask yourself would he fit into Unai Emery’s style of play? I’m not sure,” Goodman told Villa News. “Villa play a very different style to Manchester City and probably will do again next season.
“Or would he revert back to the Jack Grealish of old, where he’s given the freedom and can go and express himself? Again, I’m not sure that’s part of Unai Emery’s philosophy – he’s more of a structured manager; more for control and shape, being hard to beat.
“Then you look at some of the criticism Jack has taken from Villa fans since leaving, albeit a very small amount. When you go back to an old club and get unjustly booed and treated, it’s upsetting. The question then is how upset is he with Villa fans as a whole.
“The biggest thing of all is he now has a taste of winning trophies and he will just want to keep winning. He’s at a club that, unless something drastic happens, he will keep winning trophies. I can’t imagine a scenario where he leaves Manchester City, let alone leaves Manchester City to go back to Aston Villa.”
Jack Grealish return to Aston Villa not realistic
Even if Grealish wanted to move away from Man City – and he certainly did not seem to be unhappy at the recent title parade – there is the small matter of money.
Villa are not in a position to spend what would potentially be a club-record fee on a player, never mind then factoring in his wages.
Emery would also unlikely be all that keen to have Grealish as a regular starter, so there are too many factors going against this deal happening.
Grealish has indeed been jeered on his return to Villa Park, which made plenty of headlines at the time, but that was nothing personal.
Supporters understand the reason behind him departing, and the same ones that booed him would love to see him back in a claret and blue top one day. Unfortunately, that will not be in the next year or two.
In other Aston Villa news, Goodman believes the Villans will move “heaven and earth” to keep hold of one of their regulars.
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