Gabriel Agbonlahor is hopeful that Jack Grealish will remain at Aston Villa next season, and warned the Chelsea target that the grass isnt always greener.
Now there has been alot of transfer speculation in the media about the long-term future of Grealish, who is now regarded as one of the finest talents in the Premier league, and who is also tipped for the very top of the game. Chelsea fc are just one team that are reportedly ready to swoop in and offer Villa around £60 million to get a transfer deal done at the end of the season.
However, Agbonlahor believes Grealish will still be wearing claret and blue in the Premier League next term and has urged Villa’s owners – Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens – to turn their phones off in the summer transfer window.
‘I think he will [stay],’ the former Villa forward told the Claret & Blue podcast. ‘I know everyone’s 50/50 but I think he will because the club’s built around him.
‘Villa will stay up and the club will be built around him again. ‘He’s captain and he’s still posting photos of him at the academy when he started when he was six.
‘It’s similar to me, I had chances to leave but, when the club means that much to you, the grass isn’t always greener.
‘If I was the owner of Aston Villa at the moment, I’d just turn my phone off! If a player who’s so crucial to your team – like Jack is to Aston Villa – to get results, I’m not selling him. ‘Selling a player of Jack’s calibre’s going to cost you much more in the long run. You may get a lot for him but you’ve got to stay in the Premier League no matter what, that’s where the money’s at.
‘For me, I’m turning my phone off in the summer if I’m the Villa owner and, when the transfer window is over, I’d turn it back on so he can’t move. ‘That’s why I’d do. Fingers crossed he stays. It’s down to him.’ Look, Grealish is ready to move on and test himself at one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, and considering that Chelsea are now a hotspot for talents to progress, a move to Stamford Bridge would surely take Grealish to that next level?