Back in the summer, Manchester United were in talks with Aston Villa over a potential £75 million deal for Jack Grealish, according to the Daily Mail.
The Villans academy graduate moved into the Red Devils’ sights after their swoop for Jadon Sancho hit a wall, with Grealish said to be open to the challenge of playing Champions League football.
Despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s interest, the 25-year-old surprisingly put pen to paper on a new five-year contract at Villa Park, worth £135,000-a-week as reported by the Daily Mail.
Solskjaer eventually ended up signing Ajax’s Donny van de Beek for £35.7 million, but his fortunes at Old Trafford so far suggest Grealish made the right decision.
So far this term, Villa’s No.10 has scored four goals and assisted three more in just six appearances, while also earning two caps for England.
In Van de Beek’s case, the Netherlands international has failed to start a single Premier League or Champions League game so far, as WhoScored shows.
His time at Old Trafford has seemed bleak as things stand. He has been forced to watch on as his teammates were thrashed 6-1 by Tottenham, while Solskjaer has afforded him scant game-time to prove his worth.
Given Villa’s excellent form right now, Grealish may not even be giving the summer transfer saga a second thought.
However, if he is sitting at home wondering if he should’ve moved to Old Trafford, then Van de Beek’s treatment so far should make him feel a lot better about his decision to stay with Dean Smith in the Midlands.
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