De Bruyne played ‘secret role’ in getting Man City to sign Grealish for £100m

Kevin De Bruyne has played a ‘secret role’ in convincing Manchester City to sign Jack Grealish for £100million from Aston Villa.

Grealish is expected to complete his record transfer move on Thursday after City triggered the release clause in the midfielders contract.

The Aston Villa midfielder will leave his boyhood club in favour of a move to the Premier League champions.

According to a report in the Independent, Grealish’s performance for England against Belgium in the Nations League in November was enough to convince De Bruyne.

De Bruyne’s Belgium beat England 2-0 in Leuven thanks to two first-half goals from Leicester’s Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens.

When asked for his opinion on Grealish by Pep Guardiola, De Bruyne reportedly told the City boss they should try and sign the England midfielder.

Grealish returned to training with Villa on Monday after being granted an extended break following his involvement with England at Euro 2020.

The England international flew to Manchester on Wednesday night ahead of completing his medical on Thursday.

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The 25-year-old is set to earn more than £200,000 per week and he could make his debut for City in Saturday’s Community Shield against Leicester.

The England international has made 213 appearances for Villa, scoring 32 goals.

The transfer fee paid by City to Villa will eclipse the £89million rivals Manchester United paid Juventus to re-sign France midfielder Paul Pogba in 2016.

City are also frontrunners to sign wantaway Tottenham captain Harry Kane, should he leave the club this summer.

The Premier League champions have already had an offer of £100million rejected by Spurs, with Daniel Levy valuing Golden Boot winner Kane at £150million, as reported by MailOnline.

Meanwhile, Villa have already begun spending the funds they will receive from selling their star.

Villa announced the signing of Southampton striker Danny Ings on a three-year deal on Wednesday only a few hours after securing Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen.

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