SkySports state that Arsenal are considering a deal to sign Jack Grealish this summer, but his fee is likely to cost somewhere between £70-80 Million which is currently consider outside our budget.
Our side would most certainly benefit by the addition of the young English international, and while we would previously have expected to lose out on his signature to Manchester United, they now appear to be prioritising the arrival of Jadon Sancho instead.
It remains to be seen whether Aston Villa would consider lowering their asking price, given that Manchester United’s interest automatically adds weigh to a player’s fee, but you wouldn’t expect our side to pay £70 Million.
On the contrary, Arsenal were also not expected to be spending big last summer, but somehow pulled of a master stroke to bring in Nicolas Pepe, albeit with the full payment being paid in installments.
That poses the question though, if we were able to strike a £72 Million deal with Lille last summer, maybe we could come to some sort of similar arrangement with Aston Villa to acquire the England international, but would they view Grealish in a similar way to Pepe?
Some still claim that the Ivory Coast international is yet to earn his price tag, but the reality is that since Arteta came into the fold, he has easily been one of our best performers.
Grealish would pose as a huge boost to our midfield options, with very little goals and assists coming from our current midfielders, although you could argue that Jack plays in a more advanced role to our midfield three.
If Grealish is viewed as a winger, then I would struggle to make the argument that he is would make a huge improvement to our side, mostly because the area that we most need strengthening is in midfield, and at centre-back.
Would Grealish pose as a big enough improvement on our attacking options to warrant such a fee? Or would he be able to revert back to playing in behind the striker or in midfield where we could most definitely profit from a player of his ability?
Patrick
