£100m, that is the price it took to prise Mr Aston Villa from the place he has called home for the past 20 years. Manchester City got their man by paying the release clause built into his contract which was never really considered that it would ever be met.

By breaking the British transfer record Manchester City have managed to secure the services of 25-year old Grealish to a 6 year contract on a rumoured £200,000 a week, not a bad little sum to be playing for. The signing means that City could field a front 4 of Sterling, Foden, Grealish and Jesus….scary!

The other side of the coin is the huge Grealish shaped hole that his departure will leave for Aston Villa to try and fill. The approach Villa have taken is one which I feel is sensible. Rather than trying to replace Grealish like for like with another huge talent they have decided to split the workload across 3 of their new signings all of which are fantastic captures.

1) Leon Bailey

Signed from Norwich for £33m Aston Villa have secured a hugely talented player who is coming off a magnificent season in the Championship which ended with him being awarded player of the season. It is no surprise when you look at the stats behind the man, 15 goals and 16 assists is an indication that this is a player who holds a major influence and also one who is involved in all of the good that goes on in the final third of the pitch. The fact that Aston Villa outbidded Arsenal to secure his services is a true indicator of the value they see in Buendia, although is it any surprise to anyone that Arsenal didn’t secure the signing of someone they were chasing…?

3) Danny Ings

£25m for Danny Ings on a 3-year contract to some may seem like alot of money but looking back over his form the last two seasons, you will see that he has scored over 40 goals for Southampton, rediscovering the form and more importantly the fitness which led to Liverpool signing him back in 2015. If he can stay fit this season then Aston Villa could have a very exciting partnership of Ings and Watkins with some creative talent behind them providing the service they will crave.

It is a great signing on paper, I only hope that for Ings and Villa, by the end of the season they aren’t regretting buying an expensive treatment room resident.

As Tottenham found out in the past, replacing a superstar such as Bale, the rebuild can prove to be extremely difficult. They too went for the multiple player investment route and were extremely unsuccessful due to some questionable signings that just did not work, Soldado anyone…?

Life after Grealish wont be easy but with these three signings they have certainly softened the blow. Only time will tell if they are enough to replace Captain Jack.