Stick Or Twist For Jack Grealish
Although Aston Villa perforrmed one of the Premier League’s greater escapes, the West Midlands outfit will have little time to celebrate their achievement and with the next Premier League season just around the corner, the focus will be on the movements of Jack Grealish.
After playing one of, if not the biggest roles in Villa’s survival, Grealish’s stock is undoubtedly as high as it could possibly be and if you were a member of his entourage, you may be having a word in his ear right now.
Because if a move was on the agenda, the summer is the time to truly capatilise and as always a footballer’s career could come down to another of those sliding doors moments and the decision to either stick or twist.
Had Villa suffered the deflation that comes with the drop, there would have been an obvious firesale and although the club can now ward off any potential suitors from a position of strength, Grealish’s talents certainly deserve a move to the top of English football’s hierarchy.
With that said, the world has changed both on and off the pitch in the past few months and although Grealish is at an all-time high, the escape routes that were being mapped out a few months ago, may now have been closed.
Due to the emergence of Manchester United and Bruno Fernandes, one has to ask whether the Old Trafford outfit need the player that makes Aston Villa tick and although he would be a welcome addition to the Red Devils’ squad, it is far from the biggest necessity.
While a look at United’s ‘Big Six’ counterparts suggests, that there is not an obvious summer move elsewhere for 24-year-old and with budgets being shrunk, it is a scenario that subsequently plays into Villa’s hands.
The fact that they are a still a Premier League outfit, will now offer more of a compelling case for Grealish to stay put and the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done such an impressive turnaround at Old Trafford, arguably keeps Villa’s talisman off their radar….for now.
Of course, this is where the gamble comes, because there is always a sense of srtiking while the iron is hot and now could be the perfect time for the Birmingham born midfielder to perform higher level, especially if his current employers go on to suffer ‘Second Season Syndrome’.
The label that comes with suffereing a relegation is a hard one to wash off, albeit not impossible and if Villa’s star man has to carry that can come next May, there could be regrets of staying on for one season too many.
Ultimately, this is a scenario that looks to play out over a more extended time and if you were a betting man, you would put your money on Villa’s number 10 staying put this time around. Should Grealish lead them to safety two years in a row, the spotlight will only shine brighter but if his luck runs out, it might be his market value that goes on to take the biggest hit of all.