Jack Grealish reveals his dad gave Man Utd a fake name after they tried to scout him as kid
JACK GREALISH revealed he could have signed for Manchester United as a kid – but his dad gave the club a fake name.
The Manchester City star, 25, signed for Aston Villa aged seven before officially joining the under-10s three years later.
But rather than exclusively playing for the academy, he continued to turn out for Sunday League team Highgate United.
And after impressing in a tournament United came knocking, along with other Premier League teams.
Grealish recalled the story, speaking to THE FACE magazine: “You’re not actually meant to go back and play with your old team, but they were doing a little tour down in Devon and we played against some team in the group stages. We won 4-0 and I scored all four.
“That was when people were like: ‘OK, this kid’s good.’
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“Then I got scouted by other teams like Man United, West Brom and Birmingham City. But [at] those times I was contracted to Villa, so I shouldn’t have been playing.
“When they came up to my dad, he’d have to give a fake name!”
United also tried to sign Grealish once he made a name for himself in the Villa senior team.
The winger instead signed a five-year deal with the Villans in September 2020 but the Red Devils were still eyeing him at the beginning of 2021 – six months before he moved to the other side of Manchester.
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Grealish will be glad he made that switch after becoming a Premier League champion on Sunday.
He celebrated the achievement on the Etihad pitch alongside long-term girlfriend Sasha Atwood after speaking to Sky Sports.
The England star joked about with the likes of Micah Richards and Roy Keane with the latter advising Grealish to stick to beer and avoid the hard liquor.