Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith has admitted that his side have not tried to directly replace Jack Grealish. Grealish moved to Manchester City for £100 million in the summer, a British record transfer fee, with Villa feeling the effects of their talisman’s departure. In an interview with Sky Sports, Smith was asked about directly swapping a player for Grealish
Dean Smith said: “Replacing him is not the word for me. We have the depth as long as they are fit and available. Jack is an extremely gifted footballer who improved Villa.Our job is to make us stronger without Jack. The biggest thing is getting some consistency and allowing these players to settle. They have not had the game time to settle just yet, that is the problem.” I keep talking about consistency, but we have to have some in our team. If you think back to last season, we could probably name our team before the sheet was handed in. This season, that is a bit more difficult because of who has been available and who has not.”