Manchester City plan to make a formal offer for Jack Grealish after Euro 2020, while Aston Villa have opened contract talks with their captain.
Villa will not welcome any approach for the 25-year-old and it is understood they have received no bids for the England international so far.
City want to sign Grealish but their priority is signing a striker this summer, with their top targets Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.
The Premier League champions made a £100m bid for Tottenham striker Kane earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Villa opened talks with Grealish over a new and improved contract at the end of last week, with talks ongoing.
The club are adamant they want to build a team around Grealish, who joined the club he supports at the age of six, and their summer recruitment plans – having already signed Emi Buendia and Ashley Young – are based on players who will play with him.
Pep Guardiola is an admirer of Grealish, who has four years left on his current contract, and City would need to sell players if they wanted to sign Kane or Haaland as well as the Villa skipper.
‘Grealish hot property but Villa hold the power’
Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:
“Jack Grealish is going to be hot property this summer. Lots of clubs would like to sign him, but he has a long-term contract and Villa do not want to sell him.
“It is unlikely City would sign a striker of the calibre of Kane or Haaland, and Grealish as well. The only way that could happen is if they sold players.
“Do Villa want to sell Grealish? The answer is a resounding no. He’s their captain and has four years left on his contract.
“We know Grealish will be talked a lot about this summer, we know a lot of clubs want to sign him, but in transfer sagas you have to look at who holds the power.
“At the moment, that is Villa. Yes City like him, Guardiola is an admirer, but it’s going to be very difficult to get him.”
Souness: It’s now or never for Kane
Sky Sports’ Graeme Souness says if Kane is ever going to leave Spurs, it has to be this summer.
“There are two prizes out there: Haaland and Kane,” Souness said in May.
“With Haaland, there is still a question mark, but that is getting smaller with every week. With Harry, there are no question marks.
“But I think for Harry Kane, it is this year or never.
“For Spurs to become what Harry would want isn’t going to happen during his career. It’s not going to happen during his time at the football club. He hasn’t got six, seven years to wait.
“I don’t think that [£200m] would be outrageous. I don’t think Pep is being entirely honest when he says they won’t go big this year. I think they will.”Follow all bets and predictions for Football at bet expert.
bet365 sport. To add to the In-Play excitement, bet365 stream over hundreds of events live to your PC every year. So you can bet as the action unfolds. See all upcoming sport events you can bet at bet experts. Highlights include Masters Series Tennis tournaments and matches from some of the top domestic Soccer leagues in the world. To use the Live Streaming service you need to be log in and have a funded account. Or to have place a bet in the last 24 hours. Any fixture/event on bet365 website and bet365 mobile which has the Play or Video icon is schedule to be show via Live Streaming. bet bg
Make your bet365 registration. Enjoy a unique experience with bet365 and bet365 mobile!
Our forecasts for upcoming meetings have been carefully examine and provide in good faith, but with no guaranteed earnings. We advise you to gamble responsibly and only with the money you can afford to lose.
✅ Registration at bet365 | Account verification | Deposit money | Sports Betting | How to bet | Live Betting | Watch Live Stream | Offers, Bonuses and Promotions| Casino | Poker
18+ | Gamble Responsibly | BeGambleAware.org
BET EXPERTS