Tottenham almost signed Jack Grealish as teenager – Tim Sherwood

Former Tottenham coach Tim Sherwood has shared details of how close Jack Grealish was to joining the Spurs as a teenager.

Grealish, who joined Aston Villa at the age of six, eventually moved to Manchester City for a whopping £100m after spending 20 years with Villa.

Sherwood spoke about how he recommended Grealish to then first-team boss Harry Redknapp after watching him play an academy game against Tottenham’s Under-18s at the age of 16.

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He suggested doing a swap deal for Grealish with Jermaine Jenas, whom Villa was interested in signing. However, Redknapp declined, stating that by the time Grealish made it to the first team, he would be gone.

“I watched him when he was 16 against Tottenham’s Under-18s,” he said.

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“I remember going back to the first-team game at White Hart Lane and Redknapp said, ‘Well what was the score?’ I said, ‘I don’t know H, all I was doing was watch this boy Grealish’, it was incredible. I said, ‘[Villa] want to take Jermaine Jenas, we should do a swap for this boy.’”

“Harry, quite rightly, said, ‘He’s only 16, by the time he’s in the first-team I’ll be gone’. As a football manager, he’s absolutely right, looking after yourself as you would do.

“But for the club, it would’ve been a great move. It would’ve been a great move for Jermaine as he ended up going to Villa [on loan] anyway.”