Aston Villa’s hopes of keeping Jack Grealish if relegated surely suffer blow

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Aston Villa have more reason than most to want the current Premier League season to continue at some stage or be voided altogether.

Dean Smith’s side sit second-bottom in the table. But the Villans have a game in hand over all of the other sides in the bottom-half of the division.

They certainly have the quality to get themselves out of trouble. But the fans will be aware of how difficult it will be to keep their best players should they fail to beat the drop.

And perhaps those very slim hopes of keeping their best player have been dealt a blow following Tuesday’s announcement concerning Euro 2020.

In truth, Villa supporters would be forgiven for believing that they have next to no chance of holding onto Jack Grealish if they are relegated.

But if there is any player with that amount of ability who is going to surprise everyone and stay, it may be Grealish. He clearly loves the club and would love nothing more than to re-establish the Villans as a top flight force.

But he will have surely had ambitions of playing for England at Euro 2020. And the fact that the tournament is now going to be played next year has surely made it all the more imperative that he is playing in the Premier League next season.

Again, if any player is good enough to make England’s squad after a season in the Championship, it is Grealish.

But he will surely not want to take that risk. Clubs will surely be ready to offer him the chance to stay at the highest level.

And with the European Championships now set to be in the back of everyone’s minds again next season, Grealish may find it even harder to convince himself to stay at Villa if they go down.

Of course, that may not be a scenario Villa and Grealish have to worry about anyway should they bounce back once the season resumes.