According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham are still interested in signing Jack Grealish and could return for the Aston Villa midfielder if Christian Eriksen is sold this summer.
Spurs are resigned to losing the 27-year-old as he’s out of contract in 2020 and isn’t close to signing an extension. His sale could go towards signing Grealish, but he won’t come cheap.
Tottenham failed with a £25m bid for the playmaker last August and may have to up their offer to get Villa to accept. Christian Benteke is the Midlands outfit’s most lucrative departure, joining Liverpool for £32.5m in 2015, but Grealish is arguably more valuable.
It may take a bid in excess of £30m to procure his signature as a result and then there’s the matter of his wage demands. Grealish doubled his salary to £2m-per-year/£40k-per-week last September and has four years remaining on his deal. Spurs would pay close to £40m to sign him on a long-term contract.
Grealish has made 24 Championship appearances this season, scoring and creating eight goals. The 23-year-old has created 51 chances (one every 40 minutes) and made 42 successful dribbles (63%). He’s whipped in 88 crosses (20% accuracy) and averages 46 passes-per-game (88% accuracy).
Crippy Cooke’s previous article
Undynamic, profligate, expensive – Tottenham’s latest transfer-target revealed