Gabby Agbonlahor has joked that Manchester City fans owe a big thank you to Daniel Levy after Tottenham’s move for Jack Grealish failed.
The treble-winning star is now one of the top players in world football after winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League for Pep Guardiola’s side, an achievement in which he played a pivotal part.
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Things could have been very different for Grealish though, if his proposed move to Tottenham had come off.
The midfielder had been starring for Aston Villa in the Championship during the 2017/18 season, but after Villa missed out on promotion in the play-off final, Grealish was offered an escape route from the EFL in the shape of a move to north London.
However that deal fell through, meaning that he had little choice but to knuckle down – something that he did be playing a key role in Villa’s return to the Premier League in 2019.
Four years on and after moving from Villa to Man City in a £100million deal, Grealish is on top of the world, something that former Aston Villa star Agbonlahor joked is down to Daniel Levy’s lack of desire to splash out on the star.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Agbonlahor said: “He was close to that transfer because, at that time people were thinking that Spurs were a club who were going places, and I think he’s got to thank Daniel Levy now that he didn’t sign him and didn’t want to pay the extra money.
“You look at where Spurs are now compared to where Man City are and look where Aston Villa are now compared to where Spurs are, they finished above them.
“I think that’s one of the transfers that he’ll look back on in 10 years’ time and say ‘thank god that didn’t happen, thank god I didn’t go to Spurs’, as bad as it sounds.”
Asked how close Grealish came to making the move, Agbonlahor explained: “I remember seeing the clips after a game, I think it was Hull away and I’m sure he had that look on his face of someone who was leaving.
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“He was emotional but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen.
“Villa were grateful for it, I was grateful for it and I’m sure that now, Man City are grateful for it.”
