The former Spurs man felt his old club would have been far more comfortable if the Englishman was playing for them.
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara was full of praise for the performance of Jack Grealish in Aston Villa’s 3-2 loss against Spurs at Villa Park yesterday.
O’Hara told TalkSport he thought Grealish was the game’s best player in the first half and that Tottenham would have been far more comfortable in the game if the 24-year-old played for them instead.
He said: “I really liked him. He brought everyone into play. Serge Aurier was just bombing on and bombing on, he was non-existent at right back. Toby Alderweireld was having to come out and play 1v1 against Grealish. He kept getting in the pocket. He kept skipping past players, making things happen.
“He could have had two or three goals in the first half, set up a couple of chances. He was by far the best player on the pitch in the first half. If you looked at the way Tottenham played yesterday, if they had Grealish in the team they’d have been really, really comfortable.”
Grealish was of course linked with a move to Tottenham in 2018, when the Telegraph reported that Spurs had lodged a bid and Grealish wanted to go, given Villa’s financial troubles at the time.
But it didn’t happen. At the time, it felt like Daniel Levy wasn’t that serious about signing Grealish and had more scouted an opportunity to sign an emerging English player for under his market value given Villa’s plight.
In the interim, Grealish took the Championship by storm before doing the same in the Premier League and should be a shoo-in for the next England squad.
By contrast, Dele Alli had a wasteful game yesterday and Spurs don’t have anyone with Grealish’s subtlety in their midfield.
That Telegraph report from 2018 said Villa wanted £30 million for Grealish, but the asking price is likely to be a great deal more now.
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