Aston Villa were in a dire need of cash infusion to comply with the Financial Fair Play regulations earlier this summer, which forced them to consider the idea of selling Jack Grealish along with a number of high profile stars. However, their woes eased to an extent last week after Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens bought a controlling stake of the club from Dr Tony Xia.
As a result, Villa are now reportedly going to demand a fee of over £30million to strike Grealish off their books. For the major part of the ongoing summer transfer window, Grealish has been heavily linked with Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs are keen to lure him into their ranks to compete with Dele Alli and last week, they opened talks with Aston Villa to drive his price downwards.
As per one of the latest reports by Mirror, Crystal Palace and Fulham also have him on their radar and have enquired about the star. Fulham were intriguing to watch in the Championship last season and under the tutelage of Slavisa Jokanovic, the Cottagers got themselves promoted to the Premier League via play-offs after defeating Aston Villa in the final.
As they are due to face the elite English clubs this season, Jokanovic is still active in the summer transfer window to beef up his squad. He has already signed Jean Michael Seri and Maxime Le Marchand and is now apparently keen to get hold of Grealish. The 22-year-old is one of the hottest properties in English football at the moment and it is due to the productivity he showcased last season which multiplied his value.
In 30 league appearances, Grealish managed to score 3 goals and he also registered 6 assists. Besides, his pass completion rate of 85.6% was appealing. The Birmingham-born attacking midfielder missed the start of last season owing to his injury but he made a strong comeback and helped the Lions in launching a serious challenge for promotion. It is the chance of plying his trade in the top flight and get regular gametime that might appeal to him in this particular case.
Grealish is a cunning midfielder with the capability of holding the ball well and his dribbling skills are quite exemplary. He not only creates chances for his teammates but also has the knack to find the back of the net. He has the requisite acumen to exploit the available space in the final third and considering his age, he would be a handy package for Fulham for seasons to come if they manage to sign him.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored