Joleon Lescott reveals the part Jack Grealish played in his infamous 2016 car tweet – when the defender was slammed for ‘accidentally’ posting a picture of a £121,000 Mercedes after Aston Villa’s 6-0 defeat by Liverpool

Jack Grealish was partly responsible for Joleon Lescott’s infamous 2016 car tweet that angered Aston Villa fans, the former Aston Villa defender has revealed.

Lescott infuriated already irate supporters after tweeting a photo of a £121,000 Mercedes after a 6-0 thrashing of Liverpool, without caption or context.

He then made fun of himself for insisting his phone accidentally tweeted the photo from his pocket. Lescott apologized to fans following Villa’s ‘lack of commitment’ in the home beating that left the club bottom of the league.

The former defender has always stood by his position, but his account of the incident now includes Manchester City winger Jack Grealish, who he claims shares some of the responsibility.

‘We have to get Jack [Grealish] to clear this up, because Jack tells me all the time, “I’m going to do a podcast and tell them it was my fault,” Lescott shared. The Rest is Football podcast. “I don’t think it’s that deep, Jack, to be honest.

The former defender revealed that then Villa winger Jack Grealish was partly responsible

Lescott tweeted this photo of a Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupé with an ‘on the road price’ from £121,690

‘Everyone tweets after games and thanks the fans and stuff, I’ve never done that anyway, win, lose or draw. The car was a little wild, but how it came about was that Jack sent it to me. I and [Micah Richards] I was driving home and then my phone went off and I was like, “What’s going on?” I’m driving, so I don’t know what happened.

“My mother said, ‘You don’t even have that car. I know, it’s not mine,” Lescott continued. ‘[Grealish] Googled a photo of the car he wanted.

“My mom told me to post a picture of my real car and I was like, ‘No, Mom!’ It will look like I’ve treated myself to a Rolls Royce; It doesn’t really work that way, I don’t think it’s going away, so I just left it.”

“I definitely checked Twitter [after the game] but history would suggest that I’ve never tweeted after matches, so that’s a bit wild. After I put my phone away he just uploaded it. I thought, “What’s going on?”

Richards gave a similar account earlier this year when discussing its fallout on the podcast. The former defender revealed that Lescott used to own a car leasing company and often ‘gave us cars at good prices’.

The image of a vehicle well within the price range of a top Premier League footballer, but far removed from that of regular supporters, sparked outrage from fans online.

Lescott earned almost £50,000 a week at Villa after signing for local rivals West Bromwich Albion. The tweet offered no caption or explanation.

Comments on Twitter branded his post as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘disrespectful’, while West Brom fans reveled in their former player’s mistake and dubbed the 33-year-old ‘Agent Lescott’.

Villa were beaten 6-0 at home by Liverpool in February 2016 in a season in which they were relegated

Lescott drew the most ire from Villa supporters, who were dismayed by their team’s poor performance

‘We’re coming to the [Palace] game, [Richards] was on the bench, I’m starting and I’m captain,” Lescott added. ‘When she read my name, everyone booed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry. I was smoking.

‘In my head I thought, “I’m going to prove to you today that I’m not the only reason we’re in this situation.” I think we would have lost about 12 with the rebound. We played against Crystal Palace, who had the best away record at the time. We win 1-0 and I score. I don’t even think I celebrated it, I was furious that it had come to this and the fans took it as if I was the only person who put us in the situation.”

Villa’s sorry season ended in failure as they finished bottom of the league with just 17 points. Lescott spent just one season with the side before leaving for AEK Athens that summer.