OneFootball
Dan Burke·28 July 2018
OneFootball
Dan Burke·28 July 2018
Steve Bruce has revealed that Jack Grealish and Aston Villa’s other key players are no longer up for sale.
Last week, Bruce was given assurances about his Villa Park future by the club’s majority shareholders Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
And now the Villa boss says he’s confident of keeping hold of Grealish, James Chester and Jonathan Kodija this summer, and is hopeful of making a few new signings too.
“The one thing that the pair of them have said is that nobody is for sale,” Bruce told the club’s official website.
“That’s music to my ears.
“We don’t want to lose our best players. We all know in football that unfortunately these things happen.
“But we will now be doing our utmost to make sure these things do not happen and not let them go anywhere.
“The new owners coming in has helped. I appreciate what Dr Tony did, too. He had a tough time but there’s no doubting his commitment to the club.
“Let’s just hope the new owners can help get Villa back to where they should be. It’s going to take time but hopefully we can now look forward.”
Villa beat German side Dynamo Dresden in a friendly on Saturday, with André Green netting twice in a 2-1 win.
Despite the result, Bruce is concerned about injuries to a number of his players.
“Scott Hogan has got a bad groin – he hasn’t joined in pre-season at all,” he said.
“Keinan Davis has got an awful groin injury that has haunted him for a few months now.
“The other one is Jonathan Kodjia. He’s sore. He took a whack. It’s more precaution. I expect him to be okay for the first game of the season.
“Rushian Hepburn-Murphy went over his ankle in training three weeks ago.
“Two of our strikers are young boys. Even André Green is only 20, who was a makeshift [against Dresden], but he’s proved to me today that he can score goals.
“In adversity, there’s always something. He’s give us something to think about.”
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