Tbh at this stage I'm starting to wonder how this move happens.
With Grealish, I can see it. It'd cost 80-100m, which isn't ridiculous. The Villa owners in my opinion despite the bells and whistles won't play too hardball. They may have money already but circa 90m for a team that's only just come up to the PL and hasn't yet qualified for Europe is a huge amount of money. Their turnover isn't much over 100m. They won't be able to offer him a competitive wage which could accelerate things. Plus he apparently has a release clause to make it simpler. Also if we have to sell someone to fund him, it's likely Bernardo to go, so there'd be a Grealish sized hole at the ready.
With Kane, he'd cost way more, which for a team like City to pay that seems out of sorts considering our current biggest transfers are all in the low 60m range. They have an owner who even De Laurentiis would think of as difficult. Tottenham's turnover is over 400m, and it's been high like that for years. They can get away without a sale. They can give him a lot of money. We don't have any castoffs in our forward positions to vacate for him if we need the funds. On top of that none of our players would consider an exchange there. Like as it was with Messi, I feel like we're really banking on Kane to make a move here.
Admittedly there's a long time to go and factors that I've missed or won't ever know about. We could sign Kane for an affordable fee and get priced out for Grealish for all I know (I really doubt it though). This is just where I stand on it atm.
With Grealish, I can see it. It'd cost 80-100m, which isn't ridiculous. The Villa owners in my opinion despite the bells and whistles won't play too hardball. They may have money already but circa 90m for a team that's only just come up to the PL and hasn't yet qualified for Europe is a huge amount of money. Their turnover isn't much over 100m. They won't be able to offer him a competitive wage which could accelerate things. Plus he apparently has a release clause to make it simpler. Also if we have to sell someone to fund him, it's likely Bernardo to go, so there'd be a Grealish sized hole at the ready.
With Kane, he'd cost way more, which for a team like City to pay that seems out of sorts considering our current biggest transfers are all in the low 60m range. They have an owner who even De Laurentiis would think of as difficult. Tottenham's turnover is over 400m, and it's been high like that for years. They can get away without a sale. They can give him a lot of money. We don't have any castoffs in our forward positions to vacate for him if we need the funds. On top of that none of our players would consider an exchange there. Like as it was with Messi, I feel like we're really banking on Kane to make a move here.
Admittedly there's a long time to go and factors that I've missed or won't ever know about. We could sign Kane for an affordable fee and get priced out for Grealish for all I know (I really doubt it though). This is just where I stand on it atm.