Sign up NOW for our daily Villa newsletter direct to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Jack Grealish is expected to join Tottenham Hotspur as soon as a suitable transfer fee is agreed.

Spurs want to sign the 22-year-old this summer and are ready to negotiate with crisis-club, Villa.

Grealish is currently in Portugal on a pre-season training camp with the claret and blues, but is well aware of Mauricio Pochettino’s interest.

The north London outfit are the clear favourites to sign him this summer and are now the only seriously-interested club, BirminghamLive understands.

But Villa are still waiting for a formal offer as Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy continues to sit back in the hope of landing Grealish on the cheap.

Villa value their star man at £30million - but Spurs are ready to pitch in at around half that price.

Clearly, something will have to give and a solution must be found before the August 9 transfer deadline.

Grealish has continued to stay in shape this summer ahead of a crunch season for his own personal development.

He finished the last campaign as the best-performing player in the Championship which alerted Pochettino to his qualities.

The Spurs boss regularly sent representatives to watch Josh Onomah - who was on loan at Villa - but it was the rave reviews for Grealish that really caught his attention.

The ex-England U21 ace has remained out of the spotlight since the play-off final heartache on May 26 - and may well have played his last game in Villa colours.

More Villa news

Steve Bruce is set for crunch talks with senior officials over his Aston Villa future in the next 24 hours.

Owner Tony Xia has told his assistant Rongtian He to fly over to Portugal and speak with the manager who is preparing a summer training camp for his senior stars.

Chief commercial officer Luke Organ is expected to join him after the pair delivered the news of Steve Round’s sacking this morning.

He, also known as ‘Ho’ has taken a hands-on role this summer and could partly fill the role left behind by Round.

Villa will not be announcing an official replacement - as the position is now deemed vacant - but extra responsibility will be handed to Xia’s right-hand man, who acts as the owner’s eyes and ears in the Midlands.

Addressing the manager in the hours ahead also shows a sign of how prominent his role is right now.

(Image: @VillansHo/Twitter)

The agenda, though, is not yet clear.

It’s normal for senior officials to meet with the management team ahead of pre-season - but after a summer of chaos it’s difficult to predict what happens next at Villa.

Xia has already fallen out with former CEO Keith Wyness who left last month - and sacked his close ally, Round, just two days after he returned to Bodymoor Heath ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.

Chief scout Tony Coton has also left so the football department is currently low on experienced ‘football men’.

BirminghamLive understands that Bruce will not walk away from his role and is ready to start preparing the claret and blues for their third season in the Championship.

Whether his outlook changes in the weeks ahead remains to be seen.

Villa are expected to lose Jack Grealish this summer as Tottenham remain keen on the 22-year-old ace. John Terry has already left, the loan players from last season will not be returning and James Chester is also attracting interest.

If Villa are unable to top-up their squad with quality replacements, Bruce might start to consider his future.

Of course a decision may have already been made by then and much will depend on the outcome of tomorrow’s talks.

As for Round, his dismissal certainly came as a shock.

Who is Ho?

Meet Rongtian He - the Aston Villa superfan who is Dr Tony Xia's eyes and ears.

He's known as 'Ho' so we'll refer to him as that from now on!

With Xia back in China, Ho is on the ground at Villa Park and reporting back to the Recon frontman.

At just 29-years-old, Ho is among Villa's most powerful men.

During the turbulent fall out from Villa's promotion failures and the suspension of Keith Wyness, Ho is finding himself acting as a 'proxy' for the owner at crunch board meetings.

Ho pledged his allegiances to Villa when his school friends in Guangdong were following the fortunes of Manchester United, Arsenal and co.

Claret and blue fanatic

Ho researched the club’s history and soon became engrossed in the claret and blues’ past glories in the First Division and Rotterdam. His obsession with Villa saw him stroll up to the blackboard at school before leaving every Friday to write the words ‘Good luck Villa’ in the hope of bringing his beloved club some fortune in their weekend endeavours.

In 2003, Ho wrote to Villa telling them of his desire to someday work for the club before saying ‘I know this is unrealistic’.

But 10 years later, a 25-year-old Ho landed the role of Asia Market Advisor with Villa just a few short months after completing a masters in Sport Management at Loughborough University.

Ho lists Lee Hendrie and Thomas Hitzlsperger as his Villa idols and watched on for the first time as Villa downed Chelsea to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup on 17 December 2003.

Watching Villa

But that was just the beginning of his love affair with Villa, who have influenced the majority of his life choices since - including the decision to join Loughborough University due to its close proximity to Villa Park.

Ho told avfc.co.uk: "I didn't arrive in England with mountains of money - like any student - but I didn't hesitate to pay the £340 for a season ticket.

"I headed straight to Villa Park to buy one. I would have regretted it to the day I died if I hadn't.

"We lost my first match - 3-1 to Everton - but it was an amazing experience. It was so exciting, seeing the atmosphere build before the game and watching the Holte End in full voice. I couldn't stop taking photos either.

"I remember heading on the supporter coach to my first away game too. The guys must never have seen a Chinese fan go away with the team. They looked at me as if to say: "Who are you? Why are you here?" I found it so funny.

"But they welcomed me as one of their own when I told them my story.

"Seeing the win at Liverpool was incredible. It's moments like this that you will never forget."

New role

Upon Dr Tony Xia's arrival at the club two years ago, Ho was promoted to become Executive Assistant to the Chairman and Oversea Business officer.

Xia's duties around Villa Park and beyond are looked after by Ho as the owner seeks to visit every corner of the club on a matchday in his typically hands-on style.

And it's that good work, not just here in Birmingham but in China too, that has seen Xia reward his right-hand man with a role of prestige at the club he adores.

Ho finished the aforementioned interview with the words: “For someone like me to have the chance to work at a big club is incredible. My parents know very little about football but they appreciate the magnitude of the opportunity I have.

"For that chance to come at the club I love is an indescribable feeling. It was my dream - and my dream came true. This is a life lesson for anyone. Don't stop aspiring!"

And Ho certainly hasn’t stopped ‘aspiring’. His rise from schoolboy fanatic to one of the club’s most powerful men is a lesson to us all.