Aston Villa will not sell Jack Grealish cheaply after new investment in club

Grealish is thought to want to leave the club this summer after Villa's failure to return to the Premier League

Aston Villa have insisted they will not sell midfielder Jack Grealish on the cheap, despite their financial troubles, as Tottenham Hotspur eye the Englishman.

The Championship club, who narrowly missed out on promotion back to the Premier League last season, need £40m to comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines and thought they would have to sell off their biggest assets to fund the money needed.

However, with the club finding new investors this week to secure Villa’s future, it is thought that the necessity to sell players has been reduced.

Manager Steve Bruce insisted he still needed to meet with the new investors to discuss player sales, with Grealish himself understood to be open to a move to Spurs as he looks to push for an international call-up.

(Getty)

When asked what price Bruce and the club would want for the player, he the Villa boss said: “It’s only what somebody else is prepared to pay, what he’s worth. I know for a fact from the owners, new investors, anybody wanting to buy Jack Grealish will not buy him on the cheap.

“If we have to sell them then at least we get the right price for them and can move forward. So if anybody is going to buy one of our players now they are going to have to pay a premium.

“Until I have the conversation I can’t really answer the question. What is he worth? Who knows?

“Until I meet the new people this week then obviously all of those things will come into the equation. A week or 10 days ago they were all for sale because we simply had to balance the books and pay the wages.

“We will have more direction when I meet the new people. I’m waiting for clearance (on the meeting). It could be Tuesday. The quicker, the better. It’s a great thing for the club and it’s important the club can move forward.”