Ross Barkley’s arrival at Aston Villa eases the pressure on Jack Grealish, says Stiliyan Petrov. Barkley has made a great start to life at Villa Park on loan from Chelsea, quickly forming an exciting partnership with Grealish and scoring in the 7-2 demolition of champions Liverpool and the 1-0 win at Leicester City.
Stiliyan Petrov said “(Barkley) is a great addition to the club. I think he’s a very strong player, a quality player which will take the pressure off Jack Grealish as well because in the last couple of years the only hope for us has been Jack Grealish performing and Jack Grealish providing. Going forward is really exciting, We’ve got a very young striker who is hungry to prove himself in the Premier League – Ollie Watkins – who has started really well this season. He’s scored a couple of goals and we create enough chances for him so I’m looking forward to seeing where he is going to finish at the end of the season with how many goals. The top 10 would be great – a great improvement from last season and this should be the aim and with the performances from the start of the season we have had so far should be a very realistic challenge for the club.”