Aston Villa

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

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Monday night saw BBC Radio WM run a fan form. One of the topics discussed was whether a Villa Park return for Jack Grealish would make sense.

You can listen to the forum in full here

Here's what BBC Radio WM's Mike Taylor has to say on the Grealish prospect:

The vibes for a Grealish return ought to be good. He was an instrumental figure in lifting the club back up a level, setting them on the path to their recent success. The story of a Grealish return is an enticing thought. As a personality, he would of course fit back in at Villa.

Whether he would fit in now as a player is a different, and trickier, question. The best of Grealish was always in those moments where the patterns of play were blurred, leaving room for a freehand artist to express himself. By some accounts, Grealish's fading from relevance at Manchester City is because the rigid structures have denied him that space.

Unai Emery's Villa have their structures, too. But at their best, there has always been room within them for pace, for tricks, for joy. A more mature, experienced Grealish might be able to fit his pictures within that more forgiving frame, if the deal is right.

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We asked you if you think a return to Aston Villa would work out for Jack Grealish as it came up as a point of debate in a BBC Radio WM fan forum that aired on Monday.

We also wanted to know if you would keep Tyrone Mings and John McGinn at Villa Park given their futures are also discussed on the show.

Here are some of your comments:

Martyn: Since Jack left and Unai took charge we have become a much more structured side so I doubt coming back now would suit Jack or Villa. With a need to reduce our wage expenditure I'm not convinced this would work financially either.

Steve: McGinn going wouldn't be the worst thing - a decent player but I think we need better to progress.

Kasad: I'm a big fan of Mings and I feel he is a far better defender than Torres. Mings and Konsa to start I hope .

Adam: I think Grealish back at Villa would be great for both parties. There is obviously a talented player there whose natural play has been suppressed in Guardiola's system and he could thrive at Villa if given the freedom to express his natural game

Anthony: Jack Grealish isn't good enough to get into the Villa team.

Gary: I think Jack returning would work. I think Unai works miracles with players and would raise Jack back up to the standard he was when City bought him.

Ian: McGinn and Mings are going nowhere.

Catch up with the fan forum here

All 20 clubs earn a share of Premier League prize money. The amount each club receives depends on their league position and number of televised matches.

Prize money consists of UK and international merit broadcast payments, equal shares, commercial revenues and facility fees.

All clubs received a central commercial payment of £7.9m and equal shares from UK (£29.8m) and international (£59.2m) revenues.

Clubs are also paid a facility fee for matches broadcast on domestic TV. Liverpool had 30 of their 38 league matches televised - more than any other club.

1st: Liverpool - £174.9m

2nd: Arsenal - £171.5m

3rd: Manchester City - £165.5m

4th: Chelsea - £163.7m

5th: Newcastle United - £160.2m

6th: Aston Villa - £159.3m

7th: Nottingham Forest - £152.5m

8th: Brighton - £145.1m

9th: Bournemouth - £143.4m

10th: Brentford - £138.9m

11th: Fulham - £135.5m

12th: Crystal Palace - £136.1m

13th: Everton - £131.8m

14th: West Ham - £130.9m

15th: Manchester United - £136.2m

16th: Wolves - £123.1m

17th: Tottenham - £127.8m

18th: Leicester - £116.9m

19th: Ipswich Town - £111.1m

20th: Southampton - £109.2m

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BBC Radio WM's Villa fan forum kicks off at 1800 BST on Monday and you'll see in the posts below that Jack Grealish is a hot topic, as is the futures of John McGinn and Tyrone Mings.

Would Grealish work back at Villa? And how do you feel about Mings and McGinn?

Tell us and we'll also feed your views back to the team at BBC WM

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Aston Villa have confirmed Kosta Nedeljkovic has rejoined RB Leipzig on a season long loan.

The Serbia full-back spent the second half of last season with the Bundesliga side, making 11 appearances in the Bundesliga.

Still only 19, Nedeljkovic became Villa's 1,000th player on the opening day of the 2024-25 season.

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Former Villa striker Garry Thompson has been speaking as part of a fan's forum which will be broadcast on BBC Radio West Midlands on Monday evening [18:00 - 19:00 BST].

In the second of two posts on this page today, he speaks on the club's need to keep long-serving players and a possible return for Jack Grealish.

On Grealish:

He's a very very talented footballer, he was magnificent for Aston Villa. He got us £100m, went of to Manchester City and now Riyad Mahrez is the only talented wide player I've seen go to City and still show what he can do. Every wide player who has gone there has been nullified in one way or another.

He played for England earlier in this season under Lee Carsley and looked more like himself in the number 10, but generally Jack Grealish - it bugs me now when people say he's a robot and not as good, we saw how good the kid can be.

It hurts me now to see this kid has become a player who takes two touches and gets it and gives it and doesn't show what he can do.

Bringing him back to Aston Villa could be a massive mistake, I think he's a great player, fantastic, but he needs a new direction and new club to go to to show what he can do. Coming back to Villa wouldn't be the right thing for the club or for him.

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On the importance of keeping Mings and McGinn:

There's Tyrone Mings and there's John McGinn - we need leaders in our dressing room and they are leaders. In the dressing room they are leaders. John McGinn does John McGinn things and sometimes it's not pretty to watch but he wins tackles, he leads the team, he sparks people.

I think John McGinn should be here for as long as he wants to be here. Eventually, he will move and he'll get to 33, 34 and he'll move on and he's been magnificent for us. I just think now is the wrong time [to leave] because I'm looking at the way the club is now and this could go one or two ways.

I really think we've got to keep people like John McGinn and Tyrone Mings at this club.

Listen to BBC Radio West Midlands on BBC Sounds

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Former Villa striker Garry Thompson has been speaking as part of a fan forum which will be broadcast on BBC Radio West Midlands on Monday evening [18:00 - 19:00 BST].

In the first of two posts on this page today, he speaks on the club's progression under Unai Emery and whether a move away from Villa Park is needed for the club to compete at the highest level.

On the journey under Emery:

We've come from the point where we got relegated, we've fought our way back into the Premier League, we stayed in the Premier League and all of a sudden we've got a new manager that's come in and developed the club, took us forward, moved us into the Conference League - we've had progression every season.

We've done ever so well. I heard a podcast the other day where someone was saying 'we have to win something' and that is it.

As a fan, no matter how well you do, you are always looking to do better. Unai has done a magnificent job. If you look at his body of work so far, he's got no need to go anywhere else, he's got more power here than he would have at any other club.

All we have to do to take it forward now is to win something. It cements whatever you're doing and you're remembered forever.

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On Villa Park:

I remember when were in the Championship and played Spurs in the FA Cup. I remember walking round and thinking 'if we don't change or something happens, we're never gonna catch these people'. Because of what they can bring into the club, you're always chasing your tail.

I played at Villa Park and I love Villa Park but I'm looking at the situation and if we want to catch the big boys it's going to be very difficult. You have to look at every opportunity now because if you want to compete with the big boys you've got to look at stuff that can get you there.

We are all of an age where we don't like change, we want certain things to be the same, we want the club to be the same as when we were kid going to watch Aston Villa play. This is the place, this is our Mecca, our heaven, our church as it were.

But, things do change. It would kill me if we have to change, but if it does change we have to go with it.

Listen to BBC Radio West Midlands on BBC Sounds - the fan forum will begin at 18:00 BST

Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot, 34, is expected to sign for Aston Villa and will travel to the UK to close the deal. (L'Equipe - in French, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Aston Villa and Brighton are following highly rated Benin attacking midfielder Rodolfo Aloko, 18, from Croatian side NK Kustosija. (Mail, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Unai Emery is keen to bring in Barcelona and forward Ferran Torres, with Aston Villa ready to pay £43m for the 25-year-old former Manchester City player. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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The BBC's search to find a new football expert is under way, with 12 content creators competing in Last Pundit Standing to win a role as BBC Sport's next football content creator.

The first two episodes of the show - co-hosted by former Watford captain Troy Deeney and YouTuber and football presenter James Allcott - are available to watch on iPlayer, as well as BBC Sport's YouTube channel and TikTok account, with new episodes every week until 11 August.

The contestants, who were chosen from more than 400 applicants, will be whittled down through a series of tasks staged at iconic football locations as the creators are challenged by some of the biggest names in the game.

Read more about the show here

Watch the first two episodes of Last Pundit Standing now on BBC iPlayer

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Aston Villa will face French club Olympique de Marseille and Spanish side Villarreal in pre-season friendlies.

Unai Emery's men travel to Ligue 1 outfit Marseille on Saturday 9 August, with kick-off at 18:00 BST.

They then face Villarreal at their home ground Estadio de la Ceramica on Sunday, 10 August at 20:00 BST.

Villa had already announced a friendly against other European opposition in Serie A giants Roma, set for Wednesday, 6 August at Walsall's Bescot Stadium.

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Aston Villa attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho has signed for Vasco da Gama after being on loan at his hometown club last season.

Villa, then managed by Steven Gerrard, signed Coutinho permanently from Barcelona for £17m in 2022, six months after initially bringing him on loan.

The 33-year-old, who had one year left on his contract at Villa Park, scored six goals in 43 appearances for the West Midlands club - but spent the past two campaigns out on loan at A-Duhail in Qatar and Brazilian side Vasco respectively.

Coutinho, who has also played for Inter Milan and Liverpool, made an instant impact at Villa, scoring on his debut in a 2-2 draw with Manchester United and ending the 2021-22 season with five goals and three assists.

He had cost Barcelona £142m, a club record, in 2018 but struggled in a disappointing four-year stay at the Nou Camp, which was hampered by a serious knee injury.