Tottenham and Aston Villa 'Nowhere Near' a Deal for Jack Grealish as Deadline Day Draws Closer
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce says his side and Tottenham Hotspur are 'nowhere near' agreeing a deal for Villains' star asset Jack Grealish.
According to the Mirror, Villa, who agonisingly lost out to Fulham in the play-off final a few months ago, value their academy graduate at £35m, with Spurs hoping for a fee closer to £20m.
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Bruce, who has called his star man Villa's 'best player by a country mile,' may have been seriously considering a £20m bid from the Premier League side a few weeks back, but the new owners in charge at Villa Park have reduced the need for immediate funds.
With just days left before Thursday's 5pm transfer deadline, time is running out for the two clubs to agree terms on a switch for Grealish, with Bruce having this to say on the matter: "At the moment Spurs haven’t got anywhere near what the owners want to consider.
“They’ve got nowhere near, so there’s no discussion. Let the two clubs find an agreement then, fine, we will see what develops.
“I don’t want to lose him. But it’s football, it may happen. We don’t want to do it but if Spurs want to buy then they will have to pay a premium.”
According to Bruce, the recently cash strapped club's entire thinking has changed since the speedy takeover by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens last month, and the Villa manager has been happy with how they've gone about introducing themselves.
“The new owners came in, did their due diligence and when I met them, I think they realised who our best player was,” he said. “It doesn’t take you long because his name has been all over the back pages every day.
“The owners have made it pretty clear that if somebody wants to buy any of our players they will have to come up with a price the owners are comfortable with."
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Bruce has also been considerate of Grealish's personal career aspirations, with the chance to swap the Championship for the Champions League an obvious attraction.
“We’re a Championship club and Spurs are in the Champions League. The attraction to Jack is inevitable. I’m aware that there’s a human being at the centre of all this.
“He’s a player who wants to play at the top. Since I walked through the door here two years ago it’s always been about Grealish.
