Aston Villa have slapped a £40million price on Jack Grealish following interest from Manchester United. United have expressed interest in the 22-year-old following Michael Carrick’s retirement. Villa’s failure to gain promotion back into the Premier League means the club will have heavily reduce their wage bill this summer to comply with the EPL’s financial play regulations that stipulate Championship Clubs cannot lose more than £39million over three seasons. However, Steve Bruce’s side are keen to keep hold of Grealish and are demanding £40m to let their star man go, according to the Mirror.
Mourinho needs to replace Michael Carrick, who retired at the end of last season. United are hopeful of signing Brazil star Fred but the club look increasingly likely to need a second midfielder given Marouane Fellaini is yet to sign a new deal.
The Belgian is out of contract in July and wants around £130,000-a-week as well as a longer contract than the one year United are offering him to stay at Old Trafford. Mourinho’s attention will then switch to full-back and centre-back as he targets an overhauling of his Manchester United squad.