Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has revealed Jack Grealish may have already played his final game in 2017 after undergoing kidney surgery that could rule him out of action for up to six months.
Grealish was forced off during Villa’s 0-0 draw with Watford in pre-season at the weekend after a stray elbow from former team-mate Tom Cleverley left the England U21 international in serious pain.
The 21-year-old is still in hospital recovering from kidney surgery and Bruce has confirmed the youngster will be out for at least three months, while his total recovery time could be double that.
“It will be at least three months and it could be much longer than that,” The Daily Telegraph. “He’s poorly at the moment, I went to see him in hospital.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the injury. He’s still in hospital and things aren’t great. We hope that he has a speedy recovery, of course, as losing him is a blow to us.”
It comes as further bad news for Grealish, who has been forced to deal with numerous setbacks since emerging as a real talent for Villa three years ago.
Grealish only started 20 Championship games last season but only Josh Scowen (109) and Elias Kachunga (91) were fouled more times than the Villa midfielder (81).
