Man City target Grealish has the same quality as Hazard, says Ashley Cole

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 4 min read

Jack Grealish is a “magician” who has the same qualities as Eden Hazard, according to former Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole.

On Sunday, Grealish featured for England and was arguably their best player even though they went down 2-0 away at Belgium. The Aston Villa captain looked like the most likely source of inspiration for some creativity for the Three Lions, with one moment of remarkable skill instantly becoming a hit on social media as he flicked the ball over the head of Thomas Meunier.

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Praise flooded in for the 25-year-old after the match, including by Cole, who watched the game as a pundit for Sky Sports, when he compared the talents of Grealish to his old Chelsea team-mate, Hazard.

“Grealish was pulling the strings and running the show. When you talk about little magicians who can win you games, he’s one of them,” Cole said.

“Grealish should go to the Euros if he keeps producing the quality he’s currently producing. 

“He’s got that Hazard quality, he can beat players left and right, can get fouls for Mason [Mount] and Harry [Kane] to take free kicks. He will win England points.”

Grealish has been one of the outstanding players in the Premier League so far in 2020/21, contributing to a superb nine goals in seven appearances, with four scored himself plus five assists.

According to FootballCritic, he has earned the best average rating in the league so far with a score of 8.1 over his seven appearances.

READ MORE: The stats that show why Jack Grealish is rated the Premier League’s best player this season

Who are interested in Grealish?

Manchester United had been interested in a move for Grealish in the summer, but were put off by Villa’s asking price, while most of their attention was on Jadon Sancho of Dortmund.

Now, reports have emerged this week than Manchester City could actually make a move for the Englishman as early as January.

Grealish could command a fee of around £70m.