Wolves and Aston Villa’s Grealish and Neves debate seems pointless

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Jack Grealish and Ruben Neves are two of the most talked about stars in the lower leagues.

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa are two clubs who usually do not have a particularly passionate rivalry, but this season, things have been intensified as a result of their Premier League ambitions.

The local feud really started to heat up a few months back, with one of the main talking points being the supposed ‘battle’ between Ruben Neves and Jack Grealish for Championship superiority. For one reason or another the two sets of fans felt the need to debate the case endlessly, but in reality, there is just no need for it.

When it comes to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, there is a much more valid purpose behind what is being argued because they have both ‘been there and done it all’ so to speak. For Grealish and Neves, they are still extremely young in this game and for some reason, supporters are choosing to put their statistics against each other instead of focusing on the primary goal – promotion.

High-quality players can be few and far between when it comes to the Championship, so it makes sense to an extent, but they are both so unique. Neves’ development has been completely different courtesy of playing at the highest level in the Portuguese league, and on the other hand, Grealish has not been awarded those luxuries with Villa. Plus, the style of play between the two nations in terms of physicality is unbelievably varied.

Now that they are in the same division fans feel the need to compare, but as we have seen over the course of their two games this season, there is barely anything to separate them. Neves was able to shine through in the first meeting at Molineux, meanwhile, Grealish had a better game at Villa Park. Those games should not define a player in the grand scheme of a 46-game campaign, and yet they are being used as a major talking point.

They may have similar roles but their setups are incredibly different, and if you are a fan of Midlands football or one of these two teams, all you should want is to see them step it up a level and progress to the Premier League. That is where the real excitement begins because right now, they are not being tested to the same degree.