Jack Grealish at Birmingham City? The shock Aston Villa transfer chase that never came off | OneFootball

Blues weren't shy of plotting a loan swoop for their eventual B6 nemesis

Aston Villa versus Birmingham City is, undoubtedly, one of the most high-profile and fiercest fixtures there is in English football, and we are served a reminder of the passion that runs through this part of the world whenever the Second City derby is played out.

That is despite the fact that, for many periods throughout recent history, Villa and Blues haven't always shared the same divisional status, and that is certainly the case at the moment, with the B6 club now European regulars once again under Unai Emery, whilst their B9 neighbours are looking to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2011 as soon as possible.

There was a brief timeframe, though, when the two West Midlands rivals were on an even keel in the Championship after the Villans were relegated out of the top-flight for the first time in 28 years back in 2015/16.

Villa's rather quick fall from grace came amid a period of heavy cost-cutting after they failed to break into the UEFA Champions League after hefty investment from American owner, Randy Lerner.

This left Martin O'Neill's predecessors, such as Gerard Houlier, Alex McLeish - who controversially moved from Blues to Villa - Paul Lambert, Tim Sherwood and Remi Garde with very little resources in the way of a transfer budget.

Lambert, in particular, had a strong emphasis on promoting youthful stars into the first-team picture, particularly after the club's success in the 2012/13 'Next Gen' series.

However, if their arch rivals had gotten their way the following season under the management of Lee Clark, then who knows what would have become of Jack Grealish's career...

Birmingham City plotted audacious Jack Grealish, Aston Villa loan swoop amid Notts County success

At the start of the 2013/14 campaign, after spending pre-season with the Villa first-team fold, it was decided that the best course of action for the young playmaker was a loan stint with Notts County in League One.

Chris Kiwomya would be the main figure behind the deal at Meadow Lane, with his debut coming in a 3-1 defeat to MK Dons in September 2013, although as we've come to expect from Grealish, his first start for the Magpies saw him post an assist in a 5-1 loss at Leyton Orient.

Despite his impressive performances across the midfield, which included a run of three goal contributions in two games against Gillingham and Colchester United three months later, County found themselves struggling in the third tier, and it could have seen the Irish youth international-turned England senior star move away from the East Midlands.

Years later, it was revealed by Gregg Evans of the Athletic that a plethora of high-end League One clubs and others in the Championship looked at Grealish as a potential loan signing, including Blues, who were immersed in an unwanted relegation battle under Clark.

Unsurprisingly, although the locational logistics were on the youngster's side, the rivalry element saw Blues' interest immediately brushed aside by their cross-city foes, with Grealish ending up staying with County as they won six of their last nine games to avoid relegation to League Two by one point, before their loan star made his first-team debut for Villa against Manchester City four days later.

Jack Grealish would end up as the scourge of Birmingham City for Aston Villa

After his return to Villa, Grealish became one of the Premier League's most talked-about prospects, and that theme didn't change despite the club's fall into the Championship two years later.

Much like Gabby Agbonlahor had been beforehand, the creative ace would prove to be the scourge of Blues, particularly during his team's promotion-winning season under Dean Smith in 2018/19.

In a thrilling 4-2 encounter at Villa Park in November 2018, Grealish completed a rapid turnaround to initially make the game 2-1 at the end of the first period after Blues had taken the lead through Lukas Jutkiewicz, turning home a teasing Albert Adomah cross past Lee Camp.

The reverse fixture, though, is one which he will forever be associated with.

Indeed, he was assaulted by Birmingham fan, Paul Mitchell, in the early stages of the match after winning his team a corner in front of the Tilton at St. Andrew's, before going on to score a 67th-minute winner in front of the travelling support.

Despite the mixed nature of the occasion, he stated post-match that it was "(the) Best day of my life.

"To come here for the first time as captain of Aston Villa and then score the winner - it's what dream are made of, especially being an Aston Villa fan."

Since then, Grealish has gone on to play a key role in Villa's initial reconsolidation back in the Premier League, before he joined Manchester City in the summer of 2021 for £100m.

However, his time at the Etihad Stadium has also yielded mixed fortunes despite winning the 'treble' under Pep Guardiola back in 2022/23, and the 30-year-old recently saw his current campaign on loan at Everton, which was going rather well, grounded to a halt through a stress fracture injury.