Fulham and Crystal Palace to rival Tottenham for Championship star

 

Tottenham face competition from Premier League rivals Fulham and Crystal Palace for Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish, claims The Daily Mirror.

 

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been the frontrunners to sign Grealish all summer but have been patient in their pursuit in order to drive down Villa’s asking price.

 

The Championship side are in financial turmoil after missing out on promotion to the Premier League last season but their problems look set to ease with a takeover of the club imminent.

 

Villa needed to raise in the region of £40m to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and that looked most achievable through player sales.

 

Grealish would naturally command the biggest sum of all Villa players, but Tottenham have no interest matching Villa’s £40m valuation of the youngster.

 

Pochettino wanted Grealish signed before his Tottenham squad jetted off to USA for their pre-season tour but now the saga looks to have taken a turn for the worst.

 

With Villa set for fresh investment, it remains to be seen whether they are under as much pressure to sell Grealish and it could strengthen their bargaining hand.

 

 

Steve Bruce’s side will also benefit from the fact Fulham and Palace have entered the race for Grealish’s signature, which should drive up the price for the 22-year-old.

 

Fulham have already pulled off one of the signings of the summer in landing Nice midfielder Jean Seri from under Chelsea’s nose and prising Grealish out of Tottenham’s clutches would be similarly impressive.

 

Grealish emerged as one of the best players in the Championship last season after finally putting his off field problems to bed.

 

The England Under-21 international garnered a hugely impressive WhoScored rating of 7.66 from his 22 league starts last season, while also winning more fouls per game (3.4) than any other player in the division.