Jack Grealish opens up on failed Tottenham move in 2018

Jack Grealish reveals a particular incident with Dean Smith that transpired after he ‘nearly’ signed moved to Tottenham back in 2018.

Jack Grealish made headlines during the summer transfer window by moving to Manchester City in what turned out to be a massive deal. Man City broke the British transfer record when they paid £100 million to Aston Villa. The other signing that came close to the price was that of Romelu Lukaku’s who rejoined Chelsea.

There were many mentions about Jack Grealish on social media and how he could have been playing for Tottenham instead of Man City. The England international reportedly came close to joining Spurs in a £25 million deal back in 2018, but somehow an agreement fell through, and he remained at Villa.

However, as has become a custom of sorts these days about some interesting stories coming out after the transfer window closes, we have one on Grealish too. While the former Aston Villa star’s rise in prominence was stark, he was linked with several big clubs each summer, only to sign for Man City in this window.

Back in 2018, Grealish was heavily linked with a move to Tottenham for a reported £25 million. Eventually, the move failed to materialise, and the playmaker has an interesting tale to share that took place in the aftermath of that summer.

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Grealish opened up about a conversation he happened to have with Dean Smith, who had just been appointed as Villa manager. Tribal Football posted quotes of Grealish as he spoke from a memory of that particular incident.

Grealish said, “I’ll always remember Dean Smith [Aston Villa boss] when he first comes into Villa, he comes in about three months into the season, and I’d just nearly signed for Spurs that summer; it didn’t happen, and then I stayed at Villa,” said Grealish.

“He comes in, and he pulled me on his first day, and he says ‘so you were gonna [sic] sign for Spurs?’, I was like ‘yeah, nearly’. He was like ‘£25m?’ – I think we were like nine games in – ‘nine games in now, look’. On the board, it said no goals, one assist. He was like ‘I need you to get your numbers up’, and that was one thing I tried to do, to get my numbers up there, and as soon as I’ve gone to City, that’s what the manager has said to me.”

One can only imagine the consequences had Gralish signed up for Spurs. On a side note, had he signed on a long-term contract, it’s safe to say Man City would have scratched their heads on their failure to sign a player from the north London club, something they experienced during their pursuit of Harry Kane.