Tottenham tried to sign Aston Villa midfielder in the summer.
Jack Grealish was almost a Tottenham Hotspur player.
A bungled transfer chase by Spurs last summer saw Spurs hold out amid Villa’s financial struggles, hoping to knock the price down.
Villa were subsequently taken over, giving Villa the ability to reject Tottenham’s £25 million offer, Sky Sports reported.
Grealish admitted he was sad the move fell through, telling The Telegraph last September: “Of course there’s going to be disappointment there. They’ve beaten Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford, they’re playing Barcelona in the Champions League next week.
“I felt that if I’d gone there I could have maybe been in the England squad by the end of the year.”
This weekend Grealish made a major statement, as Tottenham’s midfield options got desperate.
He returned from two-and-a-half months injured to help Villa destroy Frank Lampard’s Derby County 4-0.
The 23-year-old scored a spectacular volley from the edge of the box, in a game where he completed 95 per cent of his passes. It was a memorable performance.
Meanwhile Spurs had to resort to playing left-back Danny Rose in midfield in the North London derby.
Tottenham’s options are stretched after selling Mousa Dembele and failing to replace him, while Eric Dier and Harry Winks were sidelined for the fixture.
Grealish seems to have put his Tottenham disappointment behind him.
Instead it is likely to be Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino who has more regrets about the transfer falling through.
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