Sam Allardyce urges Jack Grealish to stay with Aston Villa, ignore Tottenham

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Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur over the last year.

Sam Allardyce has told The Mirror that Jack Grealish should be looking to stay at Aston Villa rather than move on to Tottenham Hotspur.

Grealish, 23, was expected to move to Tottenham last summer after Villa hit financial problems, having failed to win promotion back to the Premier League.

The playmaker ended up staying though, as Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris swooped in to save the club from financial ruin, meaning they could afford to turn down Tottenham’s cash and keep Grealish.

Grealish ended up captaining Villa to promotion back to the Premier League, securing an emotional playoff final win over Derby County having enjoyed a superb season.

Grealish finished the campaign with six goals and seven assists to his name, continuing to develop his game, and he’ll now have the chance to show how much he’s matured as he returns to the Premier League.

Sky Sports recently reported that, even if Tottenham come back with a new bid this summer, Grealish will reject a move to the Champions League finalists in order to play in the top flight with his boyhood club.

Ex-England boss Allardyce has agreed with that decision when asked about Tottenham’s interest in Grealish, believing that the Villa fan favourite should be looking to stick around for the foreseeable future.

Allardyce even feels that Villa could ‘go a long way’ with strong recruitment this summer, with a huge move for Brazilian striker Wesley already agreed.

“It’s important to keep Grealish on board, that’s essential for their season and hopes of maintaining their Premier League status,” said Allardyce. “And I wonder now why Grealish would want to leave anyway. He’s got to where he wanted to go with the club he loves so why not stay and see where the journey takes him.”

“He’s adored by Villa fans and he’s playing on the biggest stage. If I was him I’d stick around and see what happens. And if Villa get their recruitment right and plus buy the right players to go with him then they could go a long way,” he added.

Whilst a move to Spurs this summer doesn’t appear likely, Grealish is surely a name Mauricio Pochettino will keep tabs on, but the player himself will be hoping to help Villa re-establish themselves as a top half Premier League club for the next couple of years at least.