Paper Round: Aston Villa star Jack Grealish 'worth more than £60 million'

The Daily Mail have quoted Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood as saying he will not allow star playmaker Jack Grealish to leave the club, even for silly money. Grealish, 20, has yet to confirm whether he will represent England or the Republic of Ireland internationally but is already making a name for himself as a game-changing player for the Midlands club.

We’ve all heard managers say their stars are not for sale ‘at any price’ before, and very rarely does that actually happen – especially when the club in question are not even at Champions League level. Instead, it’s better to interpret these quotes from Sherwood as words of warning to any cash-happy club looking to recruit the youngster if his performances continue to impress – if he does leave Villa in the short-to-medium term, the club expect to be paid off handsomely in return for their asset.

Wayne Rooney recently broke the England goalscoring record by reaching the landmark of 50 for his country, but is set for a less honourable landmark as he closes in on 1,000 minutes without a league goal for Manchester United. Manager Louis van Gaal has brushed off talk of concerns at Old Trafford over this dry spell, according to the Telegraph, but has also refused to allow teenage striker James Wilson to go out on loan, say the Express, because the team need alternative goalscoring sources to new kid on the block Anthony Martial.

There’s always an argument that Rooney brings more to the table for United than goals. However, it’s simply hard to justify his £300k a week wages at the moment. Even if Martial relieves Rooney of the burden of being chief breadwinner up front for the Red Devils, you’d expect a player of Wayne’s standing to contribute more than he has. An optimist would view Wilson sticking around as the sort of competition for places that would spur a man like Rooney on – but let’s be honest, Rooney knows his spot in the side is not under threat. That’s partly why his form isn’t what it was a few years ago. He has his huge contract and ‘untouchable’ status, what more does he need to prove?

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Mark Hughes has rejected suggestions that Stoke are contractually obliged, as per the terms of their loan agreement with Chelsea, to pay the Premier League champions a fee whenever Marco van GInkel does not play. Hughes told the Stoke Sentinel that “if you suggest I only select van Ginkel because I have to, that’s completely wrong.”

We too believe that such a clause is fabricated. That said, this is mostly because there are far simpler ways to ensure a club gives your players pitch time if they are to receive someone on loan. The most common parlour trick is to lace the deal with enough clauses so that the parent club can recall the player at the drop of a hat, forcing the side borrowing a player to ‘play ball’ on the parent club’s terms without them actually being written down and, in turn, being at risk of a hearing on the grounds of being against the rules. Besides, we cannot overlook the fact that, unfortunate injury aside, Van Ginkel is an outstanding player and has been since he broke through. He shone in Holland, in Italy for AC Milan and didn’t look too bad until fate stepped in on the few occasions he wore the blue colours of his current owners. It’s doubtful Stoke would need much incentive to feature him heavily.