Lee Sharpe says Manchester United should be targeting Aston Villa attacker Jack Grealish.
Former United winger Sharpe was responding to a question put to him by a supporter, and said he feels Grealish is ‘the best around’.
Grealish is with the England squad and is expected to star at Euro 2020 after impressing in the team’s two warm-up fixtures.
Grealish was named in our shortlist of potential replacements for Paul Pogba, if the Frenchman were to leave Old Trafford.
Last year Grealish was on United’s shortlist ahead of the summer, with it looking like Aston Villa were set to be relegated.
But with the assistance of a Hawk-eye error goal against Sheffield United which VAR failed to overrule, Villa got enough points to stay up. They then hiked Grealish’s price up to £80 million, which seemed excessive considering he ended the post-lockdown period poorly apart from the final game.
Then this season he began looking just like a £80 million player, and made United look silly for spending £40 million on Donny van de Beek, when at the time it had seemed like a shrewd move not to overpay.
Grealish ended the season making 3.1 key passes per game, more than Bruno Fernandes (2.6) and just behind leader Kevin de Bruyne (3.2).
Sharpe was a double winner with United in 1994 and played with a number of top level stars, like Eric Cantona, who had a certain x-factor to his game.
His praise of Grealish is noteworthy then, and if United do come into some unexpected money for Paul Pogba, then throwing money at Villa for Grealish could be tempting, especially if a move for Jadon Sancho fails.
Grealish did sign a new five-year contract last summer so Villa are in full control of his future. A big Euro 2020 will also inflate his price tag.
Villa have just signed Emi Buendia from Norwich and while he should be playing alongside Grealish, his arrival does give them a little leeway to let him go if the right bid does come in.
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