Tottenham Hotspur were presumed to be the front-runners in the race for Aston Villa‘s Jack Grealish as the Championship side look to sell their most valuable asset in order to meet Financial Fair Play regulations. However, latest reports have uncovered that Fulham and Crystal Palace are ready to take advantage of Spurs’ snail-paced efforts at finalising the deal. This should be a major cause for concern among the Tottenham fans, who are yet to see a new signing head through the doors of the White Hart Lane this summer.
Both Fulham and the Eagles have reportedly contacted Villa for a possible sale of the attacking midfielder. Both sides are looking to make squad improvements ahead of the 2018/19 campaign and could very well make a swoop right under Mauricio Pochettino’s nose.
Fulham are ready to take on their fresh Premier League challenge with an able-minded squad and have already shown their financial prowess through the addition of Jean-Michel Seri. Palace, on the other hand, would like to see themselves finish the next campaign well away from the relegation scraps as they survived a similar scare in the last season.
Grealish also has the opportunity of receiving more lucrative minutes on either of the two teams than at Tottenham. Under Pochettino, there is a higher likelihood of Grealish getting chosen as a sporadic option behind Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.
This summer has been rough for the Spurs faithful, especially after another season without any silverware. Pochettino is well aware of the improvements he will need to make in order to continue challenging for major honours in the coming years. Grealish could be the rotational figure to not just add depth into his squad but also the talent and the legs to ease responsibilities off the shoulders of Alli and Eriksen.
The 22-year-old is one of the most talented players in the Championship and has racked up over 100 appearances for the Villans. He featured in 34 games this past season and contributed with 3 goals and 8 assists. He has developed into a prime attacking threat and could flourish in the high pressing and fast-paced style of play at Tottenham.
Grealish was born in the West Midlands itself but represented the Republic Of Ireland on the international stage when he was young. He was called up for international duty when he was 14 and later racked up 19 caps for Ireland’s U17, U18 and U21 teams.
He switched his allegiance to England and now has 7 caps for the Three Lions U21 side. Pochettino should be quick to retake the advantageous position in the transfer process by entering into formal negotiations with Villa. The clock is ticking and Spurs cannot afford to lose out on yet another potential target.
