#FreeJackGrealish

This is issue ten of the newsletter. Thank you so much for being part of the journey so far.

It's been eventful.

Aston Villa roared back to life against Manchester City, Chelsea sacked their manager before hiring the one I wanted at Villa, the Queen also passed away.

I am not going to speak about the Queen dying because I am someone who works in the mainstream media and I have simply seen too much shit about the Queen dying. In fact, I have seen the very brain of this country piddle out of its own ears this past week. So enough on that.

This is about a proper English institution - Aston fucking Villa.

Well, not really - this one is about one of Villa's proudest sons.

We've got a new King now, but we once had our own.

#FreeJackGrealish

I'm still not sure how Aston Villa managed to keep Jack Grealish for so long, but I'm glad they did.

It's close to implausible actually. If Dan Levy wasn't playing games, Spurs would've had him off us in 2018.

Furthermore, it's somewhat of a miracle he didn't get Chukwuemeka'd prior to that.

Anyway - what happened happened, and we got to see one of the better footballers in Villa's fine history enjoy his game with us, and help take us to new heights along with Dean Smith.

After watching him this season, I'm despairing. I am a selfish Villa fan, and I am slightly bitter - but I love good footballers and Grealish is a very good footballer. He's still very good, but it's at Manchester City, and in his second season he doesn't seem like he's fitting in that well at all.

We're seeing a much different Jack Grealish these days.

My prediction was that he'd break Pep Guardiola's rotation and be a key part of the side. That has happened, slightly. He's clearly a key part of the side, but in a team is essentially a British mom's keyring, that doesn't really matter does it?

I don't think his brilliance has been coached out of him. Riyad Mahrez, David Silva, Phil Foden et al are proof that brilliance can find its best home at Man City.

It's just different in an odd way. I once described Grealish as an 'eldritch footballer'. This Lovecraftian reference referred to his terrible style - terrible as in scary. You couldn't really describe him in his best days at Villa. He was liquid. All teams could do was triple-mark him, kick the piss out of him and still - he managed to do what he does. He shapeshifts and he darts, he glides and you can't put a finger on what he does. It's like he's a member of the X-Men at his best.

At his worst? That'd be unfair. He's never truly been 'at his worst'. It'd probably be a little ignorant to say he's been a flop at City, but he hasn't been the Jack Grealish, has he?

On his day, he is arguably the most gifted footballer in the country, and amongst the world's elite. His talent could - and should - allow him to explore the world. He genuinely could be a part of any team he wishes, and there are likely better destinations for him.

One day, he will leave City, and he'll leave as a better player for this experience.

Does that path lead back to B6?

If Crystal Palace can not only reunite with Wilfried Zaha, but keep him year-after-year despite massive interest as he continually blossoms into one of the finest football-cum-shithousery merchants in the game, then why not?

One thing. Any deal to reunite Grealish with Villa is a beast of the Villans' making and the club could seriously fuck themselves over if they were to entertain the idea.

Grealish has a massive contract at City (I won't call them the Cityzens, wtf), and that will take some mindboggling fiscal fuckery from the 'Fernando Torres of Finance' Christian Purslow to unlock. Not only that, but the way in which Villa 'won' the transfer battle between themselves and City required gigantic spending from the Premier League champions.

Villa won't be spending upwards of £80m for players for a long time. Manchester City are not in a place where they can simply crystallise losses. This is back-of-a-envelope math here, but Man City won't profit on Grealish, and the lower figure they take, the bigger the loss they slap onto the books. It's an obvious point, but the longer he stays at City, the more prospect there is of him leaving - simply because they can eat more of that loss up over the years of his contract.

So many mechanisms are working on Grealish from a financial aspect. The contract, the fee, the deals. Could Villa even afford his terms anymore?

The argument was that Villa were a one-man team with him. If he joins back, it's at huge cost - system-changing cost. You're truly looking at a one-man team because a #JacksBack will cost the Villa more than you could imagine.

Look, I know he made his choice - but he could be the greatest Villa academy product of all time and he's so close to that goal. If he's not going to smash football apart after leaving Villa, then well - what was the bloody point of it all?

Peace and love and UTFV.

Odds and Holte Ends

• Tragically, it's the last day of Birmingham's best eaterie - Gup Shup. Genuinely the best place to eat in the entire city centre. If you live in Brum, you can still buy stuff from them on Uber/JustEat/Deliveroo and I really urge you to do so as they fight for a future. It's fucking INCREDIBLE.

• My Villa-supporting friend is having a baby (not him, his fiance) and it's going to be a boy. Let's get him to call it Wesley or Alan. He's reading this, so consider this a demand fella.

• People are losing their shit over the All-Star game prospect (won't happen), but in all honesty, who wants to see players be pally? I don't.

• Speaking of ruining your finances, anyone know how I can destroy my bank account and home ownership dream by buying the below? It's GORGEOUS