Transfer Centre

Steve Bruce: 'I want Jack Grealish to stay'

By Matthew Jones, Reporter | 27 May 2018

Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce urges Jack Grealish to stay the club, despite failing to get promoted to the Premier League on Saturday.

Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce has urged midfielder Jack Grealish to stay at the Championship club.

Villa lost out on promotion to the Premier League after being defeated by Fulham in the playoff final on Saturday, and now face a third successive season in the second tier of English football.

Grealish has been a vital asset in Bruce's midfield this campaign, and the Lions boss wants the 22-year-old to stay on.

"Of course there's going to be speculation over Jack," Bruce told reporters after the final.

"Me personally, I would like him to stay. I think another year with us would do him the world of good. That's my personal view. He's playing regular football week in, week out, we'll see what happens.

"I don't think we did enough. Those big decisions that went against us too. The boy (Ryan Fredericks) for me should have had a red card very early. That was right in front of the fourth official and the referee. For me, he stamps on him. Nobody wants to see spectacles ruined but you need big decisions like that. Could have been a penalty in the second half but what we can't disguise is that we didn't do enough in the first half and that's disappointing. Second half we were much better, asked a few more questions of them, and we just needed a break but we didn't get it.

"It's not me to make excuses, in the first half in particular we didn't do enough. Certainly Jack, the way he plays is going to draw the foul, we just needed that run, which he went on which got everybody off their seats, to go in the back of the net. If he'd scored, I'm sure we would have gone on to win the match. We didn't do enough around him, especially first half. Second half, we were much better and to be brutally honest that wouldn't have been hard. First half we were so disappointing, too deep, too respectful and we didn't do enough with or without the ball, especially with the ball. We didn't put any real pressure on Fulham. Soon as we did that it's a totally different game."

Grealish joined Villa at the age of six, making his senior debut in May 2014.