After Jack Grealish inspired Aston Villa’s 2-0 triumph over Newcastle United in January, Gabriel Agbonlahor wasted no time in reminding the Holte End hero the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Not that you’d have to tell the Birmingham-born Villa fanatic.
“There are so many clubs out there who’d love to have (Grealish),” the former Villa striker told talkSPORT.
For Agbonlahor, Grealish has no reason to leave a club on the up under Dean Smith. Especially not for an Arsenal side that has lost twice to the claret-and-blue dynamos this season by an aggregate score of 4-0.
“I think the way Arsenal are at the moment, I don’t think they’re even one of the top six teams in the league,” Agbonlahor adds.
“Even if they did have the money (to sign Grealish), I don’t think he’d choose to go to Arsenal anyway, which is a shame with Arsenal’s big history.”
Given a lack of cutting edge and creativity continues to undermine Mikel Arteta’s attempts at progress, the prospect of England’s most naturally gifted footballer strutting his stuff on the Emirates turf week in, week out is the stuff dreams are made of.
Pipe dreams, admittedly.
But while no-one is suggesting Tiago Tomas could be Arsenal’s answer to the Villa number 10 – he’s more at home as a centre-forward after all – the Sporting Lisbon starlet does have something in common with Grealish (A Bola).
Across the whole of Europe, only Paris Saint-Germain’s spaghetti-legged superstar Neymar has won more fouls in the final third than Tomas this season (1.8 per game).
Whether you agree with how he plays the game, going to ground under minimal contact more often than not, Grealish is a master when it comes to drawing fouls from an opposition player.
But even he can’t match Tomas (1.7 per game) and is relegated to third place in the continental standings.
The Sun reports Arsenal are closing in on a deal, brokered by Edu, which will see Tomas move to London on a £20 million deal in the summer – far less than his £52 million release clause.
And when you consider Arsenal are only seventh in the league for the most fouls won per 90 minutes, well behind Grealish’s Villa (WhoScored), it’s tempting to wonder whether Tomas would give them a different direction in the final third.
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