Manchester City are trying to finalise the £100m transfer of Jack Grealish in time for the Aston Villa captain to make his debut in the Community Shield, according to the Daily Star.
Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions face the defending FA Cup holders Leicester City at Wembley on Saturday. Arsenal won the Community Shield last summer by beating Liverpool on penalties, having won the previous season’s FA Cup.
Grealish still has to undergo a medical and agree to personal terms with Manchester City before he leaves Aston Villa. The Etihad Stadium side are willing to hand the 25-year-old a £300,000-per-week, five-year contract to leave his boyhood side.
The Daily Star expect Grealish will put pen to paper with the Sky Blues within the next 48-hours. Doing so will allow Guardiola to name the England international in his squad for the Community Shield. Meaning he could make his debut against Leicester this Saturday.
Manchester City and Aston Villa do, however, still need to finalise the structure of the £100m fee for Grealish. Dean Smith’s Birmingham outfit are pushing for as much of the funds to be paid as a baulk upfront instalment.
Talks have progressed well since the Citizens opened initial negotiations with the Villans last week. Manchester City now only have to agree on the distribution of their cash with Aston Villa to sign Grealish. He would have earned £200k-p/w had he stayed at Villa Park.
But Grealish found it impossible to say no to Guardiola and the chance to win silverware. He is also excited to play alongside Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling. He played four times with Sterling during Euro 2020 earlier this summer, combing for one goal.
Aston Villa have their Grealish replacement ahead of Manchester City transfer
Reports by ESPN also note Manchester City want Grealish to arrive from Aston Villa before the Community Shield this weekend. Guardiola made the Villans captain one of his top summer targets alongside Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.
Aston Villa have also been unable to block Grealish from leaving to fulfil his ambitions of playing Champions League football. While their £33m club-record transfer for Emiliano Buendia was foreseen as handing Smith a ready-made replacement.
The Argentine joined from Norwich in June after helping Daniel Farke’s side secure their immediate Premier League return. The EFL also named him the Championship Player of the Year after scoring 15 times and offering 17 assists.
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