Jack Grealish joins Manchester City in a £100m transfer from Aston Villa to become the most expensive signing in English history

Jack Grealish is the most expensive signing in English history after completing a £100million move to Manchester City from boyhood club Aston Villa.

The 25-year-old has put pen-to-paper on a six-year contract with the Premier League champions and will wear the No 10 shirt that has been recently vacated by City legend Sergio Aguero’s departure at the end of last season.

The £100m outlay breaks the English football transfer record that was set by Manchester United in 2016 when they paid £89m to re-sign Paul Pogba from Juventus.

Grealish joining ‘the best team in the country’

Upon joining City, Grealish hailed the move as a ‘dream come true’ but admitted it was difficult to leave Villa – the club he joined aged six and made 213 appearances in all competitions, scoring 32 goals as well as becoming their captain.

‘City are the best team in the country with a manager considered to be the best in the world,’ he said.

‘It’s a dream come true to be part of this club.

‘It was obviously a difficult few months because I have been an Aston Villa fan for my whole life, but when I spoke to the manager here and you see what type of players they have got here, in the end it was something I couldn’t say no to.

‘Competing for major trophies is something that I wanted to do. It was something I couldn’t turn down.

‘Playing in the Champions League was a massive thing for me, I haven’t done that yet. When I was sitting there on a Tuesday or Wednesday night last year it was just what I wanted to do. To be able to do it with this club is going to be a dream.

‘I had a long chat with [Pep Guardiola] about positions and stuff like that, all football. It was such a positive chat and shows why I want to play under him.

‘The way this team is set up to play suits me down to a tee, the way the manager likes to play suits me.’