Richard Keys urges Aston Villa to make 'cheeky' £50m January bid for Jack Grealish

Posted Wednesday, January 05, 2022 by Dailystar.co.uk

Jack Grealish has contributed three goals and three assists in his opening 21 appearances for Manchester City and Richard Keys believes he should move back to Aston Villa

Aston Villa should offer Manchester City £50million to re-sign Jack Grealish in the January transfer window, according to Richard Keys.

Grealish joined Man City from Villa in a £100m transfer which broke the British transfer record in the summer.

The attacking midfielder penned a six-year contract in August worth over £200,000 per week.

He described the transfer as a “dream come true”, but the first half of the 2021/22 season has not gone entirely to plan.

Grealish has contributed three goals and three assists in his opening 21 appearances for Man City – an output which has not impressed Keys.

Richard Keys urges Aston Villa to make 'cheeky' £50m January bid for Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish's start to life at Man City hasn't got entirely to plan (Image: Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)

"Why don’t Villa make a cheeky £50m bid for Grealish in Jan?” the beIN SPORTS host wrote on Twitter.

"He hasn’t got any better. He hasn’t made City any better & nor will he. Wrong man. Wrong club (he knows a few). It would get everyone out of a hole.”

Grealish is a boyhood Villa fan and spent 10 years with the club, helping them achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2019.

Richard Keys urges Aston Villa to make 'cheeky' £50m January bid for Jack Grealish
Richard Keys has not been impressed with Jack Grealish this season (Image: beIN Sports)

The 26-year-old was the creative fulcrum for the Birmingham club, picking up six goals and 10 assists in the Premier League last season to earn his big-money move to City.

Keys is not the only pundit who has been critical of Grealish’s recent performances, with Alan Shearer also expressing concern over his recent form.

"First and foremost he’s a wonderful talent, someone doesn’t spend £100m on him if you haven't got incredible ability, he has," Shearer said on Prime Video after City’s 1-0 win over Brentford on December 29.

"We saw that at Aston Villa, but what I saw at Villa was a guy who was their danger man who teams certainly went two up against him and was always attacking players, I think he takes the easy option too many times.

"I understand Man City are a possession-based team and he doesn’t want to lose the ball but it looks as if he’s lost that bit of he’s prepared to gamble. He doesn’t really go past anyone; he had two dribbles tonight.

"Everything was safe and simple and looked at times that he was a little scared to lose the ball."