Pep Guardiola needs to rebuild the fallen Premier League champions – Villa’s Jack Grealish and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves are options.
Pep Guardiola is planning a Manchester City rebuild next summer with Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish and Wolverhampton Wanderers playmaker Ruben Neves in his sights, according to Bleacher Report.
One of the greatest teams in Premier League history suddenly looks human, fallible even.
A 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday leaves City, Premier League champions in each of the last two seasons, 22 points adrift of usurpers Liverpool in second place. Guardiola has no plans to throw in the towel and accept defeat, however.
City are already planning to re-claim the crown in 2021 and, according to Bleacher Report, two Midland giants could have a testing summer ahead. Because Grealish and Neves are two players in Guardiola’s sights as the Manchester powerhouses draw up the blueprint of a whole-new team capable of closing the gap on Liverpool.
The former Barcelona boss admitted just last week that he is a ‘big fan’ of Aston Villa’s captain fantastic, describing Grealish as one of the Premier League’s very best players (BBC Radio 5 Live).
That gushing praise came just two days after Grealish, the author of nine goals and seven assists this season, produced arguably the greatest display of his career in Villa’s 2-1 EFL Cup semi-final victory over Leicester.
Man City are also keeping close tabs on Wolves’ £15.8 million Portuguese international Neves, the report adds. The former Porto skipper might not have performed at his peerless peak this season, overshadowed by Adama Traore and Raul Jimenez, but a deep-lying number six with a supreme passing range is very much a ‘Guardiola midfielder’.
Should Grealish and Neves move to Manchester, they could be the long-term successors for David Silva and Fernandinho.
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