Manchester City have been tipped to set a new British transfer record in their summer pursuit of Aston Villa star Jack Grealish and could pay up to £100m for the 25-year-old, who was among the Premier League’s most impressive players this season.

Grealish took his game to another level in 2020/21 and was a major reason why Villa went from narrowly avoiding relegation the previous campaign to finishing mid-table. Despite missing almost three months through injury he still managed 10 assists, fourth among all Premier League players.

City, having finished 12 points clear of the rest of the competition to lift a third title in four years, owe their success to incredible squad depth and are keen to strengthen once again.

The club’s overwhelming priority for the summer is a new striker to replace Sergio Aguero and Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez have been some of the names under consideration for that ‘number nine’ role.

But the Daily Mail writes that Grealish, a winger or ‘number 10’ has also now emerged as a major target. It is said that he has ‘long been admired’ by Pep Guardiola, who has his eye on rebuilding a second great City side following the conquests of recent years.

Grealish still has four years left on his current contract, which means Villa would be in a strong position to command a premium transfer fee. It is anticipated they would expect at least a new British record fee, which means in excess of the £89m Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba in 2016. The figure could potentially climb to £100m.

Grealish made his senior Villa debut in a game against City back in May 2014 and was recently the subject of praise on social media from City legend Yaya Toure.

Sorry I only just saw this ??

Keep working hard – you’re doing great ?????? https://t.co/W84aLj9XBd

— Yaya Touré (@YayaToure) May 25, 2021

The Mail notes that it is unclear if City would pursue a cash deal or opt to include players in part-exchange. Their £60m capture of Joao Cancelo in 2019 only cost them around £27m, for example, because Danilo went in the opposite direction to offset just over half of the overall fee.

City and Villa have done business before, with Douglas Luiz becoming a success at Villa Park since trading Manchester for Birmingham in 2019. City also bough Fabian Delph from Villa in 2015.

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