Former Aston Villa chief Bryan Jones says Jack Grealish is the best player the club has seen.

Grealish has just completed his second season with Manchester City as a Champions League winner.

"When we played Manchester United (in 2010) and we had so many academy players, the feeling of that, you thought it all worth the time and the expense," Jones told Mirror Online.

"We had some great coaches and we got the just rewards from it. If the kids could manipulate the ball, I couldn't care what size the player was. I remember Jack going to Hong Kong with us for a seven-a-side tournament. We took all our top players over the years like Gareth Barry, Steven Davis and Barry Bannan.

"When Jack went he was absolutely outstanding. I think he was probably giving a year and a half away too. The people who ran it actually said: 'you know BJ, Jack of all the stars you have brought over here, this one is your best one'. I agreed he had magical talent but there was still a lot of work to do.

"I replied: 'time will tell' and it has."