How to replace Jack Grealish: A lesson from Aston Villa
“’It was never the club’s intention to replace Jack Grealish with one footballer.”
Christian Purslow, the CEO of Aston Villa, took the unusual step of publishing a video explaining the reasoning behind Jack Grealish’s move to Manchester City last week.
In it, he went into detail about the club’s thought process. From adding a release clause into the contract Grealish signed last summer to breaking down exactly how those in charge of recruitment at Villa Park planned to fill the void left by the 25-year-old’s departure.
Purslow laid out the plans in the five-minute video.
“Our strategy was to break down Jack’s key attributes; his creativity, his assists, his goals, and to find these qualities and others in three forward players.
“In signing Emiliano Buendía, Leon Bailey and Danny Ings, we believe we have achieved this key objective and in doing so, reduced an over-dependency on one brilliant footballer.”
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This level of squad management is expected, though it is rarely spoken about in the public domain. Aided by the windfall following the sale of Grealish, Villa have been allowed to essentially upgrade their attack.
It is often easier said than done. There are countless examples throughout history of teams selling their talisman and wasting the money having not really prepared for this situation. There’s been no real thought put into the signings. However, that isn’t the case at Villa, who have responded to the sale of their star man with ruthless precision.
As flagged by Purslow, the key objective was to replace Grealish’s output.
In Ings, they have bagged themselves a reliable Premier League goalscorer. In his two full campaigns as a permanent Southampton player, the former Liverpool striker scored 34 goals.
Buendía was the most creative player in the Championship last term, ranking first for shots assisted, assists and expected assists. He’s more than capable of pulling the strings for Dean Smith’s side. He already has in pre-season.
Bailey is a bit of a wildcard, but you need those players within your ranks. Once courted by Chelsea and Bayern Munich, the upheaval at Bayer Leverkusen – multiple managers and the loss of key players – has no doubt had an impact on his development.
Whenever he was on the pitch, though, he seemed to have an impact.
The Jamaican is direct and aggressive in possession. In fact, he actually averaged more dribbles than Grealish last term.
Ings was the man brought in to replace the goals, Buendia will likely be the player pulling the strings at Villa Park and Bailey was identified as the one to take up the incisive role as the ball progressor in the final third. Of course, the trio have other strengths too. You can see the boxes they tick, though.
You could make the argument, however, that the club haven’t signed a direct replacement for Grealish on the left flank. Bailey, though naturally left-footed, was deployed on the right for Leverkusen last season.
He can play on the left but he’d bring a different dynamic to that side of the pitch. The 24-year-old is comfortable drifting inside but when on the left he’s much more of a traditional winger.
Buendía excelled for Norwich playing on the right in a slightly deeper role, as evidenced in his heat map.
The trump card for Smith could be Ollie Watkins.
Signed from Brentford last summer in a deal believed to be worth £28million, a then club record, Watkins finished his debut season in the English top-flight with 14 goals.
His form resulted in an England call-up and he scored in the win over San Marino to top off a memorable 2020/21.
There’s been talk that Smith might opt to use a two-man attack next season with the arrival of Ings. That is a possibility. Another option might be to use Watkins as a left-winger.
He caught the eye as a wide forward prior to being developed into a No.9. The former Exeter City youngster still has the characteristics needed to excel in that role in the Premier League, too.
He regularly drops off to the left even when leading the line. His turn of pace and directness in possession lends itself to that role. Given Ings was used in a two at Southampton, he’s well versed in creating space for a partner. They could work as a pair, just from different parts of the pitch as opposed to centrally.
Purslow mentioned that clubs held an interest in Grealish during the summer of 2020. Obviously, Villa would’ve liked to keep their captain, but they also would’ve known Europe’s elite were keeping tabs on the situation.
The club would have been aware of this interest prior to signing Watkins and it may have been one of the reasons they opted for him. He could play alongside the former No.10 as well as potentially in place of him, and he knows the system having already been at Villa Park for a year. That sort of planning can be the difference between a mid-table finish and a top-six push.
Well played, Aston Villa.
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