Aston Villa Captain Jack Grealish Is ‘Lionel Messi With A Right Foot’

Jack Grealish has been compared to Lionel Messi by Emiliano Martinez.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper, who has trained with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil in recent times, believes his Aston Villa captain is the ‘most talented player’ he has ever seen.

The England international has been in outstanding form this term, playing a pivotal role in Aston Villa’s standing in the top half of the table. The importance of the playmaker to Dean Smith’s men cannot be overstated, and somewhat resembles the overly-dependence of Barcelona on Lionel Messi.

Like Messi’s influence on his team, Grealish also mirrors the Argentine legends expertise to run with a ball. Martinez has also compared the ability of his club teammate with that of Messi.

The Argentine goalkeeper told talkSPORT: “He never gives the ball away. When I see Grealish running, it’s always a shot on target or a corner for us. He will drive past two or three players. “I just see Messi with a right foot when he has the ball. You can’t get the ball off him.”

With comparisons like this, the hype around the Englishman’s talent would only increase. Although his tally of 10 assists, which is only one less than league’s top creator Harry Kane, is good enough on its own to get top clubs queued up for his services next season.

Perhaps Barcelona could consider replacing their left-footed magician with the right-footed talisman. It’s more or less impossible to find someone as good as Messi, but if the legend sticks to his decision to leave the Spanish outfit, there aren’t many better ballers than Grealish across Europe.