Manchester City and Aston Villa expect Jack Grealish to become British football’s record signing this week, 90 minutes can confirm.
Earlier this week, 90 minutes revealed that talks are progressing between the two clubs, and they have now agreed on terms for a deal worth 100 million pounds.
The previous record goes back to 2016 when Manchester United paid £ 89 million to bring Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford from Juventus, but the deal for Grealish will see City beat that figure and break their own transfer record by over £ 30 million.
90 minutes have been heard from sources from both clubs that the deal has been agreed “in principle” and now it is up to Grealish to complete the move. The villa has allowed its representatives to negotiate a contract and these talks are expected to begin in the next few days.
City believe that Grealish wants to move, and Villa also understand that the England star is ready to change from Villa Park in order to continue his career. The 25-year-old has four years left on his current contract – which he only signed in 2020 – but Villa’s owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris were ready to raise the terms to almost 250,000 pounds a week to try to persuade him to stay.
However, sources close to both clubs have confirmed within 90 minutes that they expect Grealish to complete his move and City are confident that the deal will be a deal with the Community Shield meeting with Leicester City on 7 August.
It remains to be seen if Grealish will be the only big money coming into City, although it is widely acknowledged that Pep Guardiola is keen to get a top-quality replacement for Sergio Aguero. Harry Kane is the club’s main target, but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is doing everything he can to prevent his talisman from leaving north London.
Cityzens also have a long-standing interest in Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku, but business for the trio is unlikely to close.
