Aston Villa's Jack Grealish: A young man going places. But will he play for England or the Republic of Ireland?

Tim Sherwood says it is up to Jack Grealish to decide which country he wishes to represent at international level and has advised him to ‘go with your heart.’

However, the Aston Villa boss has urged his young midfielder ‘not to rush his decision’.

Birmingham-born Grealish has already represented the Republic of Ireland at U21 level but is yet to earn a senior cap for the Irish, so could still play for England.

Jack has got to make that decision. He has to play a few more times for Aston Villa before he needs to make that decision. Tim Sherwood on Jack Grealish

The 19-year-old, who is also being watched by England U21 boss Gareth Southgate, was a key performer on Sunday when Villa beat Liverpool in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Regarding Grealish’s international future, Sherwood told TalkSport: "It's up to Jack where he wants to go.

“What I've got to do is make sure he's got that decision to make. He must be doing something right for Aston Villa if he's got those options. That's my priority.

'Decision'

"Then it's up to Jack to decide where he wants to go. I had the same situation with Nabil Bentaleb who could have played for France but decided to pick Algeria.



“I did have a chat with him and he asked me what to do. I just said, 'you've got to go with your heart. Do you think you're French or Algerian?'

"That's the decision he had to make and now Jack has got to make that decision. He has to play a few more times for Aston Villa before he needs to make that decision."

Grealish has caught the attention of fans already, despite only making his first league start against QPR earlier this month.

And Sherwood added: "When some kids come and play with the first team sometimes, they're a bit overawed, but Jack's not.

"He receives the ball and dribbles it around people. They kick lumps out of him because he's so confident. The ball is his friend, it sticks to his foot. The more opportunities he gets, the better he's going to become."