City are prepared to sell Jack Grealish this summer regardless of who ends up signing him, with a return to boyhood club Aston Villa gaining traction if Everton’s valuation of the winger proves too low, per Football Insider’s Wayne Veysey.
Everton retain a £5m-£10m ceiling on any permanent deal for the 30-year-old, according to Veysey, well short of the £50m option-to-buy figure attached to his loan agreement. City are understood to be open to negotiating below that figure given their determination to move Grealish’s wages off the books, but a gap of that scale would likely require City to look elsewhere for a buyer.
Aston Villa, who returned to the Champions League last season and retain stronger financial footing than Everton, have been mentioned as the likeliest alternative destination should the Everton deal not materialise.
Grealish began his career at Villa Park, making his debut in 2014 and captaining the club before his £100m move to City in 2021, and has previously spoken warmly of the possibility of an emotional return.
For City, the situation is straightforward in one respect: keeping Grealish at the Etihad beyond this summer is not viewed as a realistic outcome, with the winger having fallen out of first-team contention under Pep Guardiola well before his loan to Everton last season. The priority now is finding a buyer at a fee City consider reasonable, rather than a fixed destination.
Grealish has continued his rehabilitation from a foot injury at Everton’s Finch Farm training base, and no timeline has been set for when a resolution between the three interested parties — City, Everton and potentially Villa — might be reached.
