England international now Manchester City's top target

Manchester City have made Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish their number one transfer target, reports The Daily Star on Sunday. 

The England international, who is expected to make his competitive debut for the Three Lions when they take on Belgium tonight, has been exceptional in the Villans' fine start to 2020/21. 

And his performances for Dean Smith's side haven't gone unnoticed, with City believed to be pondering a move for Grealish at the end of the season. 

The 25-year-old penned a new five-year deal at Villa Park back in August as Villa moved to protect one of their prized assets. 

Indeed, it's believed that City would have to part ways with upwards of £70m to convince Villa to cash in on Grealish. 

Grealish isn't the only Villa player City are thought to be targetting, with midfielder Douglas Luiz another on the club's radar. 

City sold Luiz to Villa for £15m in July 2019, but are believed to have buy-back option worth around £25m for the Brazilian, who has started all seven league matches this season. 

Grealish, whose WhoScored rating of 8.18 is the second in the Premier League this season, is, though, the top target for City, who would need to pay around £100m to lure the pair to the Etihad Stadium.