Jack Grealish has become the most expensive Premier League footballer after completing his move from Aston Villa to Manchester City for £100m.
The England midfielder’s move comes after City submitted their offer on Friday and activated a £100m release clause in his Villa contract.
The Grealish deal breaks the previous transfer fee record held by French midfielder Paul Pogba who rejoined Manchester United for £93.25m from Juventus in 2016.
Grealish, 25, shot to prominence in the past year and capped off an impressive season with some key contributions for the England national team, helping them get to the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
He was given an extended break after the Euros and has been training with his Villa team-mates in London all week and was once again with the group on Wednesday.
It has been very difficult for the footballer to decide if he wants to leave the club he has supported all his life and been a part of for 19 years. He was absolutely torn about the decision.
Grealish’s decision has been accepted by the management and players at Villa, who wish him well for the future and hold no bitterness over his departure. They hope the fans share that same understanding and that Grealish’s legacy at the club will remain intact.
Villa feel they are probably two or three years away from where they would need to be in their project to convince Grealish to stay.
But they feel his departure may actually end up accelerating that process.
Villa did offer Grealish a new and improved contract earlier this summer, despite him signing a five-year deal last September.
Grealish is a Villa academy graduate and has made over 200 appearances for the club, scoring 32 goals.
