Steve Bruce reveals Spurs chief Daniel Levy’s desperation to sign Jack Grealish in 2018
If it were not for NSWE Group led by Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and American billionaire Wes Edens, Jack Grealish could have potentially turned out a Lilywhite. The pair of billionaires decided to invest a huge sum of money in Aston Villa during a time of financial hardships.
Had the investment not come in, Villa would surely not have been in a position to reject Tottenham’s fee for then-22-year-old left-winger Grealish. Steve Bruce, who was managing the Birmingham-based club during that period, recently spoke in detail about Tottenham’s interest and here is what he had to say via BBC:
“One of the best things I did in management was not sell him [Grealish] to Tottenham for £8 million,”
“Daniel Levy badgered me every day on holiday to sell him when Aston Villa weren’t the best in finances.”
“But I think Mr Levy in his own great way was trying to get a bargain and we did all we could to not sell him to Tottenham for £8 million.”
“I think he accepted it and then the new people came in and the first thing they did was offer Jack a new contract, which he thoroughly deserved.”
“The rest is history from then. Also, I have to say he was a huge Aston Villa fan and enjoyed playing for the club and enjoyed being the star man, which he undoubtedly was.”
Imagine having an attacking trio of Jack Grealish, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane readily available at your disposal. Even though the winger was still a youngster back then, he stood out in a Villa side that was mostly defensive in their style of play as a player who played out of his skin on the wings and was pleasing to watch.
What if?
Even though he did not get too many goals, he was, and still is too good a talent to let go of based on just that one metric. In this world full of inverted wingers, Grealish still plays like a traditional one, who excels very much at linking-up play, and having him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would have been great to watch.
Fast forward to today, the 28-year-old is a treble winner at Manchester City after securing a move to the club in 2021 for a British record fee of £100m. One can argue that he’s been underutilized by Pep Guardiola, but hey, that’s Man City suffering from success.
Reflecting on the what-if scenario of Grealish joining Tottenham, it’s intriguing to consider the possibilities and how it could have reshaped both club’s trajectories. While Tottenham missed out on Grealish, they went on to achieve a decent sense of success under Mauricio Pochettino, even though there’s no actual silverware to count back on.
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In the end, football is full of such fascinating tales of missed opportunities and unforeseen outcomes. Grealish’s journey from almost joining Tottenham to winning every possible trophy at Manchester City serves as a testament to the unpredictable nature of the beautiful game.
