This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Tony Cascarino believes Jack Grealish should be playing at a higher level than he is, and suggested that Tottenham would be the ideal place for him to play his football.
What did he say?
Spurs have been long-term admirers of the 24-year-old, who has a £60m buyout clause in his contract according to The Mirror, and have attempted to sign him on numerous occasions, with the midfielder admitting that he could have joined the club in summer 2018.
Instead, he stayed with his boyhood club and captained Villa to promotion, and since then he has continued to impress.
A fine performance against Brighton at the weekend was commended by Cascarino, and Grealish now has two goals and three assists in nine league games, which suggests he is adjusting to life back in the top-tier rather well.
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Despite the interest from Tottenham seemingly fading, with a focus on other targets such as Isco and Bruno Fernandes, the former Villa striker believes he’d be a good fit in north London.
In his column for The Times, he wrote: “Grealish will test Aston Villa’s ambitions sooner rather than later.
“A midfielder with his talent should be playing Champions League football. He would not look out of place in midfield for Tottenham, who did not push the boat out to sign him in August.”
Champions League level?
Whilst Grealish has shown his quality on numerous occasions in the past, his failure to do it on a consistent basis is what will hold him back from the Champions League, and perhaps England too.
He is a wonderful player to watch because of his flair and ability to beat a man – with an average of two successful dribbles per league game in 2019/20 – but he lacks end product.
Last year was his most successful in that regard, with six goals and seven assists, but that came in the Championship.
Spurs are already struggling due to the drop in form of players like Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Lucas Moura – who have four goals between them this term – and therefore they can’t afford another player who lacks reliability like Grealish.
The Villa man works well as the big fish in a small pond, he is often to go-to man for his side and Dean Smith makes him the focal point of his plans – he receives an average of 29 passes per game – but he wouldn’t get the same luxury at Tottenham, so it is probably wise they chose not to sign him.
