Manchester City are closing in on the £100m signing of Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish.
A deal could be concluded in time for the England midfielder to play in the Community Shield against Leicester City on Saturday.
The move for the 25-year-old would make it a British record.
The fee for him would surpass the £89m Manchester United paid to re-sign France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016.
Grealish is set to make the move after returning to pre-season training with Aston Villa following Euro 2020.
It seems as though the transfer has been conducted in a much smoother way than that of City’s other main target, Harry Kane, who is presently in a stand-off with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy over the striker’s claim a gentleman’s agreement exists for him to leave the club this summer.
Grealish signed a new five-year deal with Villa last September.
City made their move for him at the end of last week, following up a summer of conversations with Villa by lodging a bid.
Manager Pep Guardiola believes Grealish’s creativity can offer an extra attacking dimension to what is already one of the most potent attacking units in the English game.
Grealish is a lifelong Villa fan and has been with the club for all his professional career, other than one brief spell on loan with Notts County as a teenager.
Villa announced the signing of winger Leon Bailey for £25m on Wednesday to add to the arrivals midfielder Emiliano Buendia from Norwich City and Ashley Young from Inter Milan.
If City do land Grealish for £100m it will make him the ninth most expensive player in history.
Only eight players have ever commanded a transfer fee of £100m or more.
