OPINION
West Ham have reportedly held preliminary talks with Aston Villa over a move for midfield sensation Jack Grealish.
As reported by the Express, the club have approached Villa about the 22-year-old after the club’s owner agreed to sanction his sale in an attempt to meet Financial Fair Play stipulations in 2018/19.
The newspaper report however that the Hammers have been discouraged by Villa’s asking price of £40million, with the club taking a step back from talks while retaining a keen interest in the youngster.
And, while there is no doubt that Grealish is a brilliant player who has the potential to become a star at the London Stadium, the club must bin their interest in him and look elsewhere.
The 22-year-old has really come into his own for Villa this season after a dangerous kidney injury put him out of action at the start of the campaign, but there remain some old questions about his attitude that he needs to answer with another good term.
Manuel Pellegrini will need to create a together team environment at the London Stadium, and there are doubts over how Grealish would fit into that.
In footballing terms, Grealish is an all-action midfield dynamo whose boundless energy allows him to pop up everywhere along the forward line.
While there would be some merit in West Ham bringing him in, the Hammers already have a wealth of attacking options, and Grealish would likely end up on the bench most of the time.
Not to mention the joke of an asking price, with Villa wanting £40million for a player who has had one consistently good season in his whole career.
The fee will likely end up being around the £30million mark, but even that would represent a poor investment from the Hammers board, who have come under heavy criticism for their transfer moves in recent seasons.
Overall it just looks like another ill-advised move from West Ham in the transfer market, and one that they should look to avoid in the coming weeks.
