Tottenham yet to reach 'magical' transfer fee for Jack Grealish as deadline looms

Tottenham are still to match Aston Villa’s valuation of midfielder Jack Grealish with barely 48 hours until the transfer window closes.

Grealish starred in Villa’s 3-1 win at Hull on Tuesday and Spurs are keen to sign the 22-year-old before Thursday’s 5pm transfer deadline.

“Nobody wants him to leave but there is a human element to it too,” said Villa boss Steve Bruce. “The owners have made it clear they don’t want to sell him and that still stands. Now if they get to a magical figure, then we will see. What that magical figure is I do not know.

“He is an Aston Villa fan, his family are Aston Villa through and through, they were probably in the away end singing with the fans. It is an emotional thing for him, of course. But he is young and ambitious and wants to play in the Champions League and we understand that.

“We are all trying our best to hang on to him but there is no decision to be made as they are not at the figure where the owners are even blinking.”

Villa were thought to be looking for about £35million for Grealish. Spurs are the only club from the Premier League and last season’s Champions League yet to make a summer signing but they are expected to be busy in the final 48 hours of the transfer window.

The exits of Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose could be accelerated after they returned to training on Monday — along with Spurs’s five other losing World Cup semi-finalists from England and Belgium and France’s winning captain Hugo Lloris.

Alderweireld is still hopeful of joining Manchester United but they are yet to bid for the centre-half this summer and, as of Monday night, he was not close to moving to Old Trafford. Spurs will also listen to offers for the defender’s Belgium team-mate Dembele, who has entered the final year of his contract and has admirers in Italy, while Rose’s asking price has been slashed from £50m in the hope of finding a buyer.

Spurs are desperate to sell unwanted striker Vincent Janssen, while Fernando Llorente, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and £30m signing Moussa Sissoko are also available to leave for the right price.

In addition to Grealish, they would like to sign a holding midfielder, a forward and a centre-half, with Lyon enforcer Tanguy N’Dombele a target.

Rose, meanwhile, is confident in Spurs’s ability to go toe to toe with their big-spending rivals, even if they do not add to the squad before Thursday.

He told the Mirror: “The squad we have is more than capable of competing.”