Ahead of Friday’s Championship clash between Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers, Bolton manager Phil Parkinson has stoked the flames by claiming “there’s talk of” Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish “going” in January. The England u21 international was linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur over the summer but no bid materialised. Parkinson believes a switch could be on the cards when the winter transfer window opens in January, however.
Speaking to The Bolton News, he said: “Jack is a very talented player and there’s talk of him going. The shape they play will determine how we go about stopping him, but we’ll make our team aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and their key players. It’s important that when he gets the ball we get around him quickly because he has got that ability in that final third.”
Grealish rose through the youth ranks to the Villa first-team in 2013 and has gone on to make 126 appearances in all competitions, scoring and creating 25 goals. The 23-year-old had great potential as a teenager but he’s in danger of wasting his talents by staying at an underachieving side. Dean Smith has replaced Steve Bruce at Villa, but the Midlands outfit find themselves 17th in the Championship, closer to the relegation zone than the playoffs.
They’re favourites to pick up all three points today, with Bolton being two places and two points worse off than Villa in the table. Wanderers have lost four of their last five games and have dropped points in their previous four away outings too. Parkinson knows, however, that his side stand a slim chance of getting a result if they can stop Grealish expressing himself on the pitch.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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