Manchester United have been subject to links with a move for Manchester City wide forward Jack Grealish as Ruben Amorim looks to add some creative depth to the side. Given how the Manchester Reds struggled on the creative side of things in the recently concluded campaign, it just makes sense for the club to go for another player who can add some creativity to the side, given the side’s overdependence on Bruno Fernandes. And this is where a need for Grealish comes in, but should the Premier League heavyweights fork out a reported £40m fee to get their hands on the former Aston Villa midfielder cum wide forward?
United had a structural reset when Ruben Amorim took over the reins at Old Trafford, and now the club is in the midst of rebuilding as they look to add some young players who bring some tenacity and discipline to M16, and while Hack can take up those creative responsibilities, he is more of a luxury player who plays without a defined tactical role, and such a personality type with a free role is better suited to a title-chasing team than a roster undergoing reconstruction. And this is where any move for him can end up raising more questions than providing solutions. Are United looking to rebuild through identity, or is the club again looking for a shortcut with reputation signings?
Grealish has had quite a lot of underwhelming time at City
Will Manchester United make a move for Jack Grealish?
If we are talking about Grealish, the first thing that comes to my mind is that finesse cutting in from the left that he curled past David de Gea, but the thing is, since moving to Manchester City in 2021 for a transfer worth £100m+, he has been struggling to get consistent minutes under his belt. And that is also reflected in the numbers that he has been presenting, given how modest his attacking returns have been in terms of numbers. At Etihad, his numbers have been overshadowed by the likes of Jeremy Domu and Phil Foden, given how Pep Guardiola has tried the idea of “unlocking” Grealish himself a number of times.
Grealish to United just doesn’t make sense…
Could Manchester United’s interest in signing out-of-favor Manchester City player Jack Grealish signal a potential revival for the winger at Old Trafford?
Then come the numbers that Grealish represents; he has been on a reported £300k/week wages, and even if available at a discount, he would continue to be another profile that is denting a wage budget that is already hefty at M16. Moreover, you get him on at an age of twenty-nine (29) with technically no resale value, which is everything contradictory to the data-driven model that INEOS are trying to put through at United, which is quite self-sustainable. And the Villa Park academy graduate looks like a high-cost and low-return signing.
For the Manchester Reds, we know there is a lot of concentration on off-pitch reputation as well, given the recent antics of the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, and in a club that is trying to rebuild some sort of discipline, bringing in Grealish can end up undermining the standards once again, given how he brings similar PR risks given his off-pitch party persona.
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WAFU Opinion
To me, Manchester United should continue to march forward, and that should start reflecting on how they are constructing the roster at Carrington. The Manchester Reds must be thinking about strategic arrivals, and to me, Grealish looks more like a shortcut to headlines, not solutions, and it will resurface the idea that the club always goes for big-name signings. I would say, let City offload him and let him go elsewhere, and United should rather concentrate on smarter signings instead.