Grealish sent Man Utd and Chelsea transfer warning by Collymore as ‘mistakes’ threaten to scare off suitors

Jack Grealish has been warned that he risks scaring Manchester United and Chelsea off with the “mistakes” he has made off the field.

On the pitch, the Aston Villa captain has played his way into contention for a big-money move to a Premier League heavyweight. It seems to be only a matter of time before such a switch is made, with interest building steadily heading towards the next window.

Various landing spots have been mooted, with Old Trafford considered to be the most likely at this stage. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in the market for added creativity, with Grealish ticking plenty of boxes for the Red Devils.

Chelsea could also be tempted to make a move, while it has also been suggested that the 24-year-old would not look out of place at Liverpool or Manchester City.

Grealish has, however, made unwanted headlines during the coronavirus crisis for breaking lockdown protocol – forcing him to issue a public apology.

Former Villa and Liverpool striker Stan Collymore hopes a precocious talent has learned his lesson, with there a very real threat that suitors will turn their attention elsewhere if they consider the promising playmaker to be too much of a gamble.

“As an older guy now, looking now at some of these young kids, older players now should be able to pick the phone up and say ‘have a think about that - have a word about that’,” Collymore told SiriusXM.

“I did that with Jack Grealish. I sent him a long email when he went to a party. I told him he needs to make amends. I said to him ‘you’ve got good people around you, you’ve let them down but now it’s time to get back on track’.

“Pretty much as a prescription, he did everything that I requested he did. He made a big donation to a local hospital and he was forgiven.

“If you look at Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, who all might be looking at you, if he keeps making these kinds of mistakes, they just won’t take him.

“A big conversation - make sure the football family, doctors, clubs, keep their phone lines open because players are humans like we all are.”

Grealish is currently waiting on a return to action with Villa and will be hoping to add to his collection of nine goals and eight assists in 2019-20 as Dean Smith’s side battle to beat the drop.