Tim Sherwood reveals how Tottenham missed out on Manchester City’s £100 million star Jack Grealish

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood says he wanted to sign England and Manchester City forward Jack Grealish even before he became a big deal in the Premier League.

Sherwood is credited with giving Grealish his Premier League debut in 2015 at Aston Villa and both enjoyed a good working relationship before the now TV and Radio pundit was sacked in 2016.

The ex-Tottenham and Villa boss has now detailed how he tried to get the talented player to north London in his early days.

He told TalkSport: “I watched him when he was 16 against Tottenham’s Under-18s at Villa.

“I remember going back to the first-team game at White Hart Lane and Redknapp said, well what was the score?.

“I said, ‘I don’t know Harry, all I was doing was watching this boy Grealish, it was incredible.

“I said, [Villa] wants to take Jermaine Jenas, we should do a swap for this boy.

“Harry, quite rightly, said, he’s only 16, by the time he’s in the first-team I’ll be gone. As a football manager he’s absolutely right, looking after yourself as you would do.

“But for the club it would’ve been a great move. It would’ve been a great move for Jermaine as he ended up going to Villa [on loan] anyway.”

A boyhood Villa fan, Grealish joined the club aged six and made 213 appearances in all competitions, scoring 32 goals before sealing his record £100 million deal to Manchester City in 2021.

After a difficult first season, Grealish is now a regular under Pep Guardiola and enjoying his game at the Etihad.