MANCHESTER CITY could move for £100million-rated Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish — by using Douglas Luiz as leverage.
The Etihad giants have a buy-back option on the Brazilian midfielder they sold to Villa in 2019.
It means City can re-sign Luiz for around £25m up until the start of June — but the 22-year-old is thought to be worth considerably more.
City could be prepared to let Luiz stay at Villa Park if it gave them a run at Grealish this summer.
And that would be an ace up the sleeve of the champions-elect for boss Pep Guardiola as he makes the England ace a major target.
The former Barcelona coach has made no secret of his admiration for 25-year-old Grealish.
Currently his squad is well stocked in both midfield and the wide areas, where the Villa ace normally plays.
Guardiola’s priority with the money he has available this summer is likely to be a new striker and possibly a specialist left-back.
But the City chief is keeping an open mind on Grealish as he knows that some of his current stars could fancy a move — and good offers may come in for some of them this summer.
Guardiola has recently claimed he has had little time to think about next season as his team chase glory on FOUR fronts.
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But the Spaniard revealed he may start to think about his future plans when he finally gets a breather during the international break next week.
Grealish is currently out injured and missed out on selection for Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad as a result.
But his Villa team-mate Ollie Watkins was called up for the Three Lions for the first time ever,
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