Grealish To City? | City bid £100M

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El Jefe said:
At least we'll finally get to see how good he is at the highest level. Moving to City will also lead to less fawning over him on here as it's been quite ridiculous lately.
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He’s not going there cheap that’s for sure. Once The Bitters made it clear that they offered 100m for Kane, Villa weren’t going to sell to a PL club for much less than 80m i reckon
 
MDFC Manager said:
I think Villa are quite loaded and want to spend and improve their team. They might still sell, but for more than 100m.
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It's a lot of money. Hopefully it stops City from strengthening in other more important areas
 
Imagine Grealish Kane Mahrez KDB front line.

City going to try and win three on the spin and match our leagues before the decade is out.
 
Stacks said:
from the sounds of it he is Eden Hazard. How would you rate him compared to Mahrez?
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I don't think that's the type of player he should be compared to in the first place, personally. The talk of goals and assists is somewhat missing the point with these kind of players who can draw so many bodies to them and then leave them out of position whilst freeing up team-mates to then do their thing. If Grealish proves to have the one and two-touch ability I mentioned wanting to see if he's capable of in an earlier post, it's the likes of Zidane and Iniesta he should be considered to be following in the footsteps of, both for being nightmarishly difficult to win the ball from cleanly, and for the amount of players he preoccupies whilst doing his thing. By these goal and assist metrics, neither of those players make a dent in the hyper-inflated stats we have today, but then, anyone looking at them and reducing them down to that would be deemed as someone who doesn't know his football and would be summarily dismissed from any deeper level of conversation.

I am obviously not saying Grealish is in a tier with two of the greatest players of all-time, but what I am saying is that his objectives, manner of progression, and even positions played, are the same and these are the kind of players to compare and contrast his game with as well as to consider what would make him so potent even if he wasn't a goal and assist machine. The aforementioned players don't have amazing stats in terms of goals and assists, but if there was such a thing as a pre-assist, or if goal involvements were seen as as strong a factor as direct assists are now, you'd see both of them sitting right at the top of that data, and Grealish's game goes along the same lines.

No team wants to deal with someone running at them, that they can't dispossess without a mass of bodies around him or an elite player or two meeting the challenge head on. It's extremely rare to encounter players with the kind of ball carriage that has to be dealt with before it picks up a head of steam - I guess Hazard is also a fitting representative of the style I'm talking about, so yeah, you already know what kind of ilk Grealish should be categorised with.

For all of City's quality, they don't have a player like Grealish (very few on the planet do), and as I've said before, his skillset can be utilised in myriad of ways and just modified to fit the team he goes to. The ball hog thing, it doesn't seem to be considered that at Villa he is that way because he has to be - him carrying the ball there is mostly the best option as releasing it to lesser players has more chance of them fluffing the play than the odds of him progressing it himself does; it remains to be seen if he would be that way inclined in a team where early release to free up others in promising positions is on a plate and they're of the quality to believe they'll make good use of the pass. England are a static side with very little desire to play combination football, so again, passing to a seemingly immobile Kane, who isn't even trying to free himself into open channels, or trying give and goes with players who don't really want to give and go, does not seem to be the best use of the ball, which, I would think makes Grealish's mind up for him in what he'll attempt.

This 'overrated' thing makes no sense to me - each team can look at him and see exactly what they want from his game and it should be pretty obvious why £100m and eye-watering numbers like that are being bandied about for him, the attributes he has are extremely rare, and if you don't go for him, but want that kind of player, who do you go for after him who is as reliable and consistent with their ball carriage and ability to draw fouls and bodies to them?
 
He's like a less productive version of Mahrez. Don't see how he fits in with the other players they have
 
City plan to make a bid? Why are people acting like they've already signed him? He's on a long term contract and have no need to sell, they can ask for 200 million.
 
Matthew84! said:
City plan to make a bid? Why are people acting like they've already signed him? He's on a long term contract and have no need to sell, they can ask for 200 million.
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Since when did a players contract prevent a club like City from getting their target? It might add a few million to the eventual fee, but that's peanuts for them in the grand scheme of things. If they want him, they'll get him.

The sad part is the impact Grealish will have on City is minor compared to clubs in the chasing pack like Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Leicester or Spurs.
 
TMS said:
If not for a dodgy goalline technology decision Villa would have been relegated and Grealish almost certainly sold, with us as the favourites if reports at the time were to be believed. Instead of that they stayed up and the price went from £30m to over double and he ended up signing a new deal. What could of been I guess?
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Mental eh, i think you're right though if they were relegated i don't think financially you can turn down a 50m offer for Grealish, small margins indeed
 
Red4Life_#7 said:
Once Villa stayed up last season they didn't have to sell him any more. It would have taken crazy money to sign him last summer after that.
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Dont know if I’m remembering correctly, but thought £70m was being bandied around before last season started.

Looking like £100m now for City.
 
City can feck off. They may have billions but it will always remain a soulless, morally bankrupt steaming pile of shit of a club no matter who they sign.

I’m guessing Kane is next?
 
When all the clubs are struggling for big money purchase, city are using this 'opportunity' to spend 200m for two players?
 
Irrational. said:
City can feck off. They may have billions but it will always remain a soulless, morally bankrupt steaming pile of shit of a club no matter who they sign.

I’m guessing Kane is next?
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Sheikh should have bought Newcastle a real club instead
 
gorky_utd said:
When all the clubs are struggling for big money purchase, city are using this 'opportunity' to spend 200m for two players?
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Can do that when you have a bottomless pit of cash and able to buy off the authorities as well
 
bsCallout said:
On the one hand he's a great player and could do even better with better players around him. On the other EVERYTHING goes through him at Villa which could certainly be helping his stats. Pep won't want him holding onto the ball as long as he does.

The people overrating him are those claiming he could play RW or as a false 9.

He seems very much like Hazard in his dribbling ability, creation and ability to draw a foul.
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He may end up like Bernardo or Mahrez
Lay said:
I think he’s quality but every time our rivals sign a player, people have a meltdown on here as if they’re the reincarnation of Pele. I’m waiting for someone to sign that Malian player we are linked with and people convince themselves he’s Patrick Viera mixed with Makelele
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Yep. the jealous ex
CanadianUtd said:
Yep. Last year when he could’ve been had for around £60m-£70m whereas now his profile has only grew larger.


...United’s board/owners have taken over 2 years to get 1 of Sancho/Grealish finalized taking the piss out of clubs with offers and such while City are about to spend £200m on Kane+Grealish. If you’re a newcomer growing into football, who would you rather support? No brainer. City have recent history. United are living on past successes however you want to spin it. At least Olé and co have brought direction and a vision to build upon but what use is it when the club don’t back them last summer when they proved the campaign before they deserved it. As a result of said non-backing last summer, we’ll be a summer transfer away from catching on to City since they’re all but likely to makeup with it double dipping in big signings this time around whereas we still struggle to get just Sancho alone inked. F*** off.
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It is not easy to compete with Gulf state who ignores FFP. like it or not United do have genuine financial restrictions and not monopoly money
croadyman said:
Feck sake Villa why did you have to stay up in 19/20 and then Utd passing on him for Donny last summer too what it gods name were we thinking. Has taken all the gloss off us potentially signing Jadon & Varane in one fell swoop and definitely pushed City further away from the rest.
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I don't think we could have afforded him in the COVID period with other areas to fill. We lost money that year.
Fortitude said:
I don't think that's the type of player he should be compared to in the first place, personally. The talk of goals and assists is somewhat missing the point with these kind of players who can draw so many bodies to them and then leave them out of position whilst freeing up team-mates to then do their thing. If Grealish proves to have the one and two-touch ability I mentioned wanting to see if he's capable of in an earlier post, it's the likes of Zidane and Iniesta he should be considered to be following in the footsteps of, both for being nightmarishly difficult to win the ball from cleanly, and for the amount of players he preoccupies whilst doing his thing. By these goal and assist metrics, neither of those players make a dent in the hyper-inflated stats we have today, but then, anyone looking at them and reducing them down to that would be deemed as someone who doesn't know his football and would be summarily dismissed from any deeper level of conversation.

I am obviously not saying Grealish is in a tier with two of the greatest players of all-time, but what I am saying is that his objectives, manner of progression, and even positions played, are the same and these are the kind of players to compare and contrast his game with as well as to consider what would make him so potent even if he wasn't a goal and assist machine. The aforementioned players don't have amazing stats in terms of goals and assists, but if there was such a thing as a pre-assist, or if goal involvements were seen as as strong a factor as direct assists are now, you'd see both of them sitting right at the top of that data, and Grealish's game goes along the same lines.

No team wants to deal with someone running at them, that they can't dispossess without a mass of bodies around him or an elite player or two meeting the challenge head on. It's extremely rare to encounter players with the kind of ball carriage that has to be dealt with before it picks up a head of steam - I guess Hazard is also a fitting representative of the style I'm talking about, so yeah, you already know what kind of ilk Grealish should be categorised with.

For all of City's quality, they don't have a player like Grealish (very few on the planet do), and as I've said before, his skillset can be utilised in myriad of ways and just modified to fit the team he goes to. The ball hog thing, it doesn't seem to be considered that at Villa he is that way because he has to be - him carrying the ball there is mostly the best option as releasing it to lesser players has more chance of them fluffing the play than the odds of him progressing it himself does; it remains to be seen if he would be that way inclined in a team where early release to free up others in promising positions is on a plate and they're of the quality to believe they'll make good use of the pass. England are a static side with very little desire to play combination football, so again, passing to a seemingly immobile Kane, who isn't even trying to free himself into open channels, or trying give and goes with players who don't really want to give and go, does not seem to be the best use of the ball, which, I would think makes Grealish's mind up for him in what he'll attempt.

This 'overrated' thing makes no sense to me - each team can look at him and see exactly what they want from his game and it should be pretty obvious why £100m and eye-watering numbers like that are being bandied about for him, the attributes he has are extremely rare, and if you don't go for him, but want that kind of player, who do you go for after him who is as reliable and consistent with their ball carriage and ability to draw fouls and bodies to them?
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Yeah he does remind me of Hazard especially with the attributes you highlighted. very Hazard esque except Hazard was better and more direct with his dribbling, scored more etc. Most seasons Hazard was top of the successful dribbles along with Zaha and Messi in all of Europe. That said Bernado Silva can do much of what you say Jack brings
 
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gorky_utd said:
When all the clubs are struggling for big money purchase, city are using this 'opportunity' to spend 200m for two players?
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You do know that the net worth of the sheikhs family is a trillion dollars, right? They can buy all the clubs in Europe and then some.
 
if they sign Grealish for £100m overnight while we still cant get Sancho over the line since last year, bloody hell
 
They signed Buendia to be Grealish's partner not his replacement, gotta think they'll prefer to opt for having a season with both together rather than just one
 
Stacks said:
Yeah he does remind me of Hazard especially with the attributes you highlighted. very Hazard esque except Hazard was better and more direct with his dribbling, scored more etc. Most seasons Hazard was top of the successful dribbles along with Zaha and Messi in all of Europe. That said Bernado Silva can do much of what you say Jack brings
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Not through the middle of the pitch. Grealish's vertical dribbles straight into the heart of the opposition is what sets him apart from someone like Bernado who is a quick twist and turn, cut inside and relay the ball kind of dribbler. Grealish can get the ball in and around the centre circle and drive directly into a mass of bodies and have the penchant of getting to where he wanted to more often than not.

As I was typing my last post, your mentioning of Hazard did remind me of that and I think it's a very specific skill (vertical dribbling and taking on whoever comes at you) as opposed to isolating a man wide and skipping off on the inside of him before the assisting CB or DM/CM comes to meet you - you get more time and you're already in a position where opposing players have to decide whether they break rank to meet you or hope the midfielders get over in time. What Grealish and that type of player can do induces immediate panic stations and the swarms we got used to seeing last season as a swathe of bodies try to protect the spine of their side and have no hesitation in breaking rank to attempt to shut the threat down. It's a massive tactical asset to have a player who can do that in your team and we marvel at it because, apart from the odd hero run, most games see nothing like it. So when you've got a player who has that as their biggest strength, the off the ball strategies can become so much more nuanced and targeted - the chain reaction is massive as the striker ahead can tuck behind the CB who is uncertain of whether he needs to go, and the CM's and DM's are flapping and momentarily losing their composure. At City (or any top team), other players in the midfield and attack can pick and choose what they elect to do in this newfound space.

It's just a massively useful (and rare - did I mention rare... :nervous: ) quality, and can be used in so many different ways to hurt the opposition and control the midfield or really stifle a game as a whole.
 
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