Chelsea emerge as favourites to land Jack Grealish

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Bengaluru, August 3: Chelsea are ready to hijack Tottenham's move for Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish, according to reports in England.

The Blues want to snatch the Aston Villa forward from under the noses of their cross-town rivals.

The £20million move will get the seal of approval from Chelsea legend John Terry after Grealish impressed him at Villa Park last season.

The Villa ace has been heavily linked with a move away from the Midlands this summer.

Tottenham were leading the race to sign Grealish, 22, however, Chelsea have now emerged as joint-favourites to sign the attacking midfielder.

The Premier League big boys could make a £20m bid for Grealish in the coming days, however, Villa are currently refusing to sell. And, his teammate defender James Chester says the England Under-21 international says the Villa players won’t hold it against Grealish if he quits for the top flight.

"I think Jack is the most talented player at the club and deserves to be playing at the very top of the game," Chester said.

"People forget he is still very young, but we know Villa will be a real threat to anyone in the division if he stays.

"It would be sad to see him go and I don't know if he will now that the ownership of the club has changed.

"But I don't think anyone should hold it against him if he ends up going to a top Premier League club."

A Villa source said as quoted by The Sun: “The new owners do not need to sell players but are aware of Financial Fair Play next season, which is out of their hands.”

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has told Chelsea he will not sign a new deal and will walk away next summer on a free unless they sell him in the next few days.

The ex-Atletico Madrid star, a target for neighbours Real Madrid, is desperate to move back to Spain to be close to his two kids.

But Chelsea must quickly decide whether they are willing to write off £35m by insisting he stays at Stamford Bridge this term.

Part of the problem is they do not want to spend more than £20m on a new keeper, making England reject Joe Hart a shock option if Courtois goes.