Aston Villa star Jack Grealish is in talks to extend his contract with the club after Tottenham failed in their attempts to sign him this summer, Steve Bruce has confirmed.
Grealish was heavily tipped for a move to north London before the start of the new season and was widely reported to have been Mauricio Pochettino’s top transfer target.
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Villa manager Bruce had initially been resigned to losing Grealish after an impressive 2017-18 campaign and told talkSPORT that the midfielder would be a Spurs player now ‘if Tottenham had done their work early.’ But new owner Nassef Sawiris ruled out a sale after taking over at the club in July.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, Bruce hailed Grealish’s application and has revealed that the 22-year-old is set to sign a new deal with the Championship side.
"Jack has been fantastic,” said Bruce. “We hope to reward him, we're in talks with him now. I hope that it can progress, it will progress."
Grealish is said to have been left disappointed by Villa’s reluctance to let him go this summer, but Bruce has been delighted with the player’s attitude in recent weeks.
"I think it's important people hear that. We keep hearing that footballers don't want to play, Jack's knocking on my office at ten past nine demanding that he plays.
"Typical Jack. All the stories you hear about him, one thing I can tell you is that he wants to play."
The former England U21 international is now expected to be a crucial part of Villa’s team again this season, having marginally missed out on promotion to the Premier League during the last campaign.
Grealish has two years remaining on his current deal but the club are keen to reward him with a contract that reflects his importance to the side.
"Obviously, it's difficult at the moment because we haven't got a CEO to do those discussions," Bruce added.
"But the owner - and I think we've learned from the owner very quickly what he says goes - he said by the end of the month we hope we can get an agreement with Jack and keep him here."