Former England star Wayne Rooney spoke to TalkSport about Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish.
The Villa skipper had a phenomenal campaign last season where he helped his side avoid the drop on the final day. Grealish was expected by many to make the England squad, but Gareth Southgate has ignored almost every England fan’s wish.
The 24-year-old’s omission from the squad shocked everyone, including former England skipper Rooney, who has labelled the decision as ‘shocking’.
He said: “I can’t work it out why’s he’s not in the squad – I have no idea. He should be in that squad. Even if he is just in the squad to train and you just bring him on for ten minutes to see his character and see how he reacts to it. It was shocking that he wasn’t in the squad.”
Rooney also hinted that the reason he wasn’t named in the England squad might have been due to the club he plays for. The former Manchester United man compared Grealish’s situation to his own when he was at Everton, where he claims that his standards were above everyone else’s in the squad.
“The season he had he was outstanding. I’ve been there when I was a young player at Everton and the team probably weren’t to the standard I was. And I think that’s where Jack is at now – Aston Villa are not at the standard of the player he is.”
That is a sly dig at Dean Smith’s side but even the fiercest of Villa supporters will agree that Grealish deserves a move to a bigger side in the near future.
However, Villa fans might just get their wish and see Grealish stick around for another year. Smith’s men are reportedly demanding £75 million to part ways with their skipper (the Mail) which puts him out of reach of a lot of clubs in this difficult financial climate.
Grealish will give it his all this season irrespective of who he plays for. The attacker would want to make the England squad eventually and a good campaign will make it very difficult for Southgate to ignore him for next summer’s Euros.
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