Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish discusses Tottenham Hotspur ahead of fixture

Follow us on Google Discover

Grealish was close to leaving Villa Park for Tottenham Hotspur last summer but 12 months on he will lead the Villans out at Spurs’ new stadium.

Aston Villa captain and one-time Tottenham Hotspur target Jack Grealish has given his thoughts ahead of the Premier League opener between the two sides on Saturday, in conversation with talkSPORT and also with the official Villa website.

The Villa Park side were promoted via the Championship playoffs last season and have been handed a tough opening fixture as they take on the Champions League finalists at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Grealish was on the verge of joining Spurs last summer, with Villa having lost in the 2017-18 playoff final and subsequently having financial issues, but following Wes Edens and Naseef Sawiris’ takeover, the hometown hero ended up staying put.

One year on and the 23-year-old has etched his name into Villa Park folklore, having captained his side up into the top six from a mediocre mid-table position and then back into the top flight following three years in the wilderness, and first up is the club he could have been playing for had things turned out slightly differently.

“It’s a privilege to be back playing in the Premier League again,” Grealish told talkSPORT. “We’re all looking forward to it against Tottenham, a top club with a top manager and now they have a brilliant stadium, probably the best in the country.”

When the outlet suggested he could be playing this game in the Lilywhites shirt, he replied: “Yeah, I could have, but I just think everything happens for a reason. I just tried to get on with it last season and my only aim was to get Villa back in the Premier League. When I came back from injury we were 13th, but I was still so positive we could finish in the top six and luckily we did that and we achieved promotion.”

Though Grealish will look to plot Tottenham’s downfall this weekend, the respect he has for Spurs is high, telling the Villa website: “You look at their stadium, their players and their manager, everyone knows what a massive club they are… but we just have to concentrate on ourselves. We have such a good team here.”