Jack Grealish won’t be leaving Aston Villa in January transfer window, insists Dean Smith

As revealed by The Independent, the 24-year-old has emerged as a target for Manchester United – but Villa appear unwilling to consider a January sale

Jack Grealish celebrates after scoring against Aston Villa (Getty)

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has insisted that Jack Grealish will not leave the club in the January transfer window.

As revealed by The Independent, the 24-year-old has emerged as a target for Manchester United, with the side eager to find a replacement to the injured Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay.

Tottenham are another team to have recently been linked to Grealish, who has scored eight goals and created six more for Villa this season.

But despite the prospect of striking a lucrative multi-million deal for the midfielder, Smith has categorically ruled out a January sale.

“I think he’s a big target for many teams and you can see why,” he said. “He’s a top player but as I’ve said before, our owners are very ambitious and want to establish us as a top Premier League club.

“To do that you have to keep your best players, so we’ll be keeping hold of Jack Grealish. People can keep looking but they can’t touch.”

Smith will meanwhile hold transfer talks with chief executive Christian Purslow after losing Tom Heaton and striker Wesley to knee ligament injuries in the 2-1 win at Burnley.

“We’ve got business planned, that’ll continue,” said Smith, ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup third round trip to Fulham. “I’m sitting down tonight with Christian and Suso to see what this changes for us. It’ll hasten what we do in the market.

“The recruitment side won’t change from what we were looking at before.”