Chelsea have reportedly set their sights on making a surprise move for a Manchester City attacker in the summer transfer window.
It has been nearly three years since the Premier League champions triggered the £100m release clause to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, making him the most expensive British footballer at the time.
The 28-year-old has featured regularly for Pep Guardiola ever since, making 124 appearances and winning six major honours, but he only has 14 goals and 18 assists to his name in sky blue.
As such, there is a consensus that Grealish has failed to live up to his nine-figure price tag, and he has only scored three goals while setting up three more in 35 matches during the current campaign.
While the ex-Aston Villa man has featured regularly in Champions League action with eight European starts to his name, he has only made the first XI on 10 occasions in the 2023-24 Premier League season, completing the full 90 seven times.
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Chelsea 'discussing move for Grealish'
The England international's contract at the Etihad Stadium runs for another three years, but he is still on the same terms he penned upon his arrival in 2021, and there is no extension in the pipeline.
As a result, journalist Simon Phillips claims that City could be open to appropriate bids for Grealish this summer, and the winger himself would give consideration to moving on to another club where he might play a more prominent role.
"Another winger I am told has been internally discussed at Chelsea recently, is Manchester City's Jack Grealish," Phillips wrote on his Substack page.
"The 28-year-old has been linked with a return to his former club Aston Villa in recent weeks, and due to his bit-part role at City, there is a belief in the industry that he will be available for transfer this summer and also, he is likely to be open to moving to another club where he will have a more important role at.
"Chelsea have good transfer relations with City and of course, have signed Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer from them in recent years, both at reasonable fees."
Grealish to follow former City teammates to Chelsea?
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As Phillips mentioned, Chelsea's positive rapport with City when it comes to transfer business could put them at an advantage over Villa when it comes to a bidding war, but their potential lack of European football may not.
Should Grealish decide that the Villa ship has sailed, though, he could reunite with ex-Citizens teammates Sterling and Palmer at Stamford Bridge, two men who have had varying degrees of success in a Chelsea strip.
Heralded as one of the signings of the season, Palmer has been an unexpected revelation in West London with 23 goals and 13 assists from 40 matches, and his 20 Premier League strikes puts him just one behind Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.
However, Sterling - who joined Chelsea from City two years ago - has managed eight goals and eight assists in as many games and has recently been demoted to a peripheral role amid scathing criticism of his wasteful displays.
After earning just 24 minutes off the bench in the 5-0 loss to Arsenal, Sterling missed Chelsea's 2-2 fightback draw against Villa with a back problem and is a doubt for Thursday's London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.
Ben Knapton
