Alan McInally On Aston Villa Transfer Plans: Conor Gallagher Not Good Enough

Alan McInally admits he does not know whether Jack Grealish’s potential return to Aston Villa would be a positive move for his former side.

McInally, who spent two years at Villa during his playing days, shared his thoughts on the club’s summer transfer business in an exclusive chat with Gambling.com.

Grealish has been linked with a return to Villa Park after a frustrating season at Manchester City.

But McInally says he is “on the fence” with regards to whether such a deal would benefit Unai Emery’s team, who are favourites with betting sites to re-sign Grealish if he leaves Manchester City.

“Start with the easy questions,” he said when asked if Villa should make a move for the England international.

“I mean to be honest with you we’re in a situation where £100m for Jack Grealish meant there wasn’t really an option to say no..

Only Two Players Worth £100m

“I don’t even know if there’s any football player in the world worth £100m apart from maybe (Lionel) Messi and Mr (Diego) Maradona.

“But, to bring him back how much is he going to cost? I don’t really know if there's a figure that has been mentioned, but they'll still be looking for the guts of £70-75m. It’s not as if they’re going to take that much of a hit.

“I just don’t know if he would fit in with what Emery wants to do and there’s been a couple of players that have left Aston Villa.

“One young player, the boy (Omari) Kellyman, I was a bit disappointed he left. I thought he was going to have a really good opportunity to play more games than he did last year.

“But obviously I suppose with this Fair Play (the Premier League’s financial rules), money juggling, players in players out, young players etc... that I suppose Villa’s hands are tied a little bit.

“See how I’ve gone round the houses there and don’t really know how to answer this question! Grealish to come back. Would I want him back? Maybe, I don’t know. I’m a wee bit...I don’t know, it’s a really tough one.

“I’d love to do a poll and ask the Villa fans 'do you want Jack Grealish back or not?' It would be really interesting to see how many people would actually want him back in the fold.

“In all seriousness, he’s gone there (Manchester City), he’s won a league, he’s won a Champions League. He didn’t get much time with (Jeremy) Doku coming in. He had an injury-plagued season, fell out with the manager.

“You know, maybe it's a great opportunity for him to come back to Villa and have that experience of playing under (Pep) Guardiola and to ship it into a Villa side that hopefully is going to be able to score goals with the players we’ve still got and obviously Ollie Watkins up top.

“It’s a tough one to answer. I’m on the fence massively and I don’t normally sit on the fence, I normally tell you exactly what I think.”

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Gallagher Not Good Enough For Villa

McInally was more forthright when asked whether he thought Conor Gallagher would be a smart addition to the Villa squad.

Chelsea are said to be open to a sale, but the former Scotland international believes Villa can do better.

“I don’t think he’s good enough to play for Aston Villa,” he said. “He’s a good player, he’s done all right but I can’t for the life of me understand how he got in the England squad and plays in front of some other players.

“Then again, that is the choice of Gareth Southgate. He has to stand by that. I don’t see Conor Gallagher making Aston Villa any better and I want players to come to my football club that are exceptionally better than Conor Gallagher and that’s just the way I feel.

“He’s a good player, he’s done very well for himself but I don’t see him being an Aston Villa player. I don’t know how much he’s going to cost but at the same time I don’t see the fit there.”

Smith-Rowe Would Be Great Signing

Emile Smith-Rowe is another midfield target for Emery’s team, who are aiming to beef up their squad for Champions League football next term.

And McInally was more enthused about the prospect of the Arsenal man moving to Birmingham this summer.

“Love him. Really good player by the way, really, really good player,” he added. "Would he get in the first team? I think he’d be pushing wouldn’t he?

“Obviously, Douglas Luiz has gone to Juventus now, so there is a space in there along with (Boubacar) Kamara and John McGinn.

“You can’t really count (Moussa) Diaby and (Leon) Bailey on the right-hand side so you can take them out of the midfield scenario.

“In terms of a young and energetic player, on the fringes of a team that were going for the championship last season, I think he’d be a fantastic signing. I genuinely do. I think he’d be a great signing.”

Villa Had No Choice In Luiz Sale

The aforementioned Luiz recently sealed a move to Juventus, who paid £21m and gave Villa Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea in exchange for the Brazilian.

And McInally, who left Villa for a similarly huge European club in Bayern Munich in 1989, believes the Premier League side could not have done much more to prevent Luiz’s departure.

“I don’t think they (Aston Villa) had much choice,” he said. “It’s a difficult situation as a football club. A lot of people said to me I should have stayed at Aston Villa. If I'd stayed at Aston Villa we’d have won the league that year.

“Obviously there was a bit of a carrot for me when Bayern Munich arrived and I think it’s kind of really the same thing for Douglas I’m afraid.

“It’s a really big move. He’s leaving by saluting everybody, saying 'I loved my time, I'm leaving you in the Champions League' so there’s a positive there, but at the same time I can’t stand here and be hypocritical and say I can’t believe he’s left Aston Villa because I did [the same thing}.

“He’ll wonder after a season whether it was the right thing to do or not, whether he’s a fixture in the Juventus team. That will be interesting to see how it goes for him.”
 

Barkley Renaissance Surprising

Villa have also signed Cameron Archer, Lewis Dobbin, Ian Maatsen and Ross Barkley this summer.

McInally admits he was surprised by Barkley’s return to form at Luton last year, but he believes he will add something to the Villa squad.

“I didn’t think I'd ever hear anyone speak about Ross Barkley again about three years ago because he was going through that period where he was kind of in no-man’s land. He’d picked up an injury,” he continued.

“I think he was not the forgotten man, but forgotten just how good he could be. You’ve got to say his season last season was absolutely fantastic. I mean absolutely fantastic and he was a huge and integral part of a team that gave a couple of people a few bloody lips as well.

“And OK, the end game wasn’t exactly what they wanted but in terms of him proving again to everybody...I mean you can say the same about Dominic Solanke. I’m trying to think of players who have surfaced again.

“Danny Welbeck I suppose down at Brighton. I mean again I thought he was going to be a forgotten man and all of a sudden he starts banging in a few goals.

“So, I wouldn’t have a problem with him (Barkley) coming in because I think he carries really good experience and I think he’d be a really good addition. I think he will help John McGinn massively actually.”