Prince William asked me to manage Aston Villa, claims Avram Grant

Avram Grant claims Prince William has asked him to become the new manager of Aston Villa - but insists he has no intention of leaving his current job as Ghana coach.

The former Chelsea, Portsmouth and West Ham manager has been linked with a return to the Premier League after leading the Black Stars to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, eventually losing to Ivory Coast on penalties.

But while Grant reveals he has been approached by royalty to succeed the sacked Paul Lambert at Villa Park, he is adamant he will see out his contract with the African giants.

"Aston Villa is a great club, with great fans and it is an honour to have my name mentioned with them, but I want to continue with Ghana for the next two years, until the end of my contract. I enjoy managing Ghana very much," the 60-year-old told Sky Sports.

"I met Prince William and he asked me ‘why don’t you come to Aston Villa?’. I said ‘when you become the chairman, I will come’. As long as my name is mentioned, I feel good with this, but not more than that. I want to continue with Ghana."

Grant then looked back at the Afcon tournament, praising his side for making it until the end.

"The Cup of Nations was a great experience. Great people, very passionate about football. High quality players, many of whom are playing here in the Premier League. I enjoyed it very much.

"Ghana have not won the cup since 1982 and no one expected us to reach the final, because it is a completely new team.

"Half of the squad were different to the squad who went to the World Cup just half a year ago. We changed it from players who were stars of the team to players who I think will be stars of the team.

"In the final, we were the better side and lost after 11 penalties each. We are happy and the Ghanaian people are very happy.

"I have just come from three days of celebrations and it was like we took the World Cup. But we did lose by the last penalty so I cannot be completely happy.”