Jack Grealish on forgetting Tottenham transfer saga and taking Aston Villa back to ‘where they belong’
It was more than an hour after full-time when Jack Grealish surfaced from the dressing room furore, sheepishly averting his gaze as he pulled himself together.
The day had been a medley of emotions for the 23-year-old, with multiple distractions racing through his mind – from teenage dreams of emulating Gabby Agbonlahor as he scored in the second-city derby, to the uncertainty of his Aston Villa career, and his late baby brother. This was a moment he could breathe and reflect.
There is now finally a sense of closure for Grealish, particularly after this game, as he touched on the stress he’d endured of being linked away from his boyhood club with Tottenham. It may have been a transfer saga that eventually fizzled out on deadline day, but the hangover was still a burden on his mind as he attempted a return to normality back in August.
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“The start of the season was tough for me,” he admitted, letting out a sigh, “I’m not trying to give myself credit or nothing, but it was tough. I had such a tough summer, because I didn’t know where I was going to be. And you might think ‘ah, it’s just football’. But it isn’t, because it does play with your head a little bit, which it did with mine.
“So it took some time to get over that, but this is my club, this is what I’ve dreamed of. Ever since I was a kid, all I wanted to do was play for Aston Villa. So I’m not going to sit there and think ‘I could’ve been here or I could’ve been there’. The grass isn’t always greener.”
Rather than any underlying regret of not playing top-flight football, and contesting for an England spot, Grealish instead feels like Villa Park is home once more. Under new boss Dean Smith - another a boyhood Villa fan who took pride in having Brummie bragging rights in Sunday's 4-2 victory - Villa have now won their last three games, Grealish scoring in two of them. With the top six in the Championship prone to amendments so frequently this season, the midfielder's belief is that promotion isn't a fantasy, but a prospect within their reach.
Birmingham City striker Lukas Jutkiewicz going in for a tackle on Jack Grealish (Getty)
“I feel like you look at our team, you look at our manager. You look at everything, the ground, the facilities, the club itself. I think we belong in the Premier League, and who knows what can happen. All we need to do is just keep on performing, keep on winning … All I want to be is back in the Premier League with Villa.”
The midfielder's flying header at the back-post was the conclusion of an explosive two minutes that completed a first-half turnaround against Birmingham. Toothless defending from both sides opened the game up for some eye-catching finishes, especially Alan Hutton's driving run through the middle with 15 minutes to go that sealed the victory.
But at the centre of it all, amidst the claret flares and pumping fists, the personal significance of Grealish's goal brought him to his knees with emotion. Yes, Villa were on their way to beat their bitter rivals, but he was also thinking about his younger brother Keelan, who died back in 2000, and what it would've meant having him there to watch such an important game.
“I had tears, I was crying. I’ve got all my family here,” he said, with a faint smile. “Since I’ve been a kid I’ve always wanted to play against the Blues ... There were moments where I would just dream [about it] when I was a fan. To score in that game – I got a bit emotional because I’ve got a little brother that passed away. Obviously I’d just dedicated it to him.
“It’s a dream come true for me [to score],” added Grealish. “All week I’ve been thinking about it. I kept saying to myself a win would do. I’d take playing terrible and get a win. But to get a goal is just the best feeling ever.”
