Manchester City set to smash British transfer record for Aston Villa star Jack Grealish

Manchester City have made Jack Grealish their No1 midfield target and are prepared to make the Aston Villa star English football’s first £100million player.

The Premier League champions will contest their first Champions League final against Chelsea on Saturday and are determined to enhance the quality of an already outstanding squad from a position of strength.

Grealish has long been admired by Pep Guardiola and City’s manager wants the 25-year-old at the hub of what he hopes he will become the second great team of his reign in Manchester.

Manchester City want to make Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish English football’s first £100m player

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is also firmly in City’s sights after the England captain last week revealed his desire to quit north London in search of silverware.

Villa rewarded Grealish last September with a lucrative new contract and the club captain still has four years to run on his deal. 

His importance to Dean Smith’s side is huge and, as such, they would not entertain selling their local hero for anything less than a new British transfer record.

A deal for Villa talisman Grealish would see City smash the British transfer record this summer

Pep Guardiola is determined to have Grealish at the hub of his second great team at the club

City have not had the most expensive player in the Premier League since they signed Robinho for £32.5m at the start of the Abu Dhabi era in September 2008 but there is recognition that recruiting Grealish will come at a premium.

It is unclear at this stage whether City would pursue a straight cash negotiation or there would be scope for players who have struggled for game time this season to be included in the deal – as they did in 2019 when signing Joao Cancelo from Juventus with Danilo used as a makeweight.

City sold Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz to Villa two years ago; they have an option to buy him back for £27.5m but that clause expires on June 5 and City have yet to tell Villa what they intend to do about a man who has been touted as long-term replacement for Fernandinho.

The man who City want in Birmingham, though, is England international Grealish and it is Guardiola’s hope that he will help freshen up a squad that could achieve ultimate ambition of the club’s owners in Porto by becoming European champions.