Jack Grealish has had an excellent start to his loan spell at Everton but the attacking midfielder is still likely to leave Manchester City next summer.
Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish has impressed for Everton this season
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Jack Grealish's impressive start to life at Everton will be in the spotlight this week as David Moyes' side prepares for a trip to the Etihad without the player who has quickly become their talisman.
The 30-year-old is ineligible to face his parent club this weekend, having left Manchester City to join the Toffees on a season-long loan in the summer.
After nine appearances for Everton, Grealish has four assists and a goal, and he has quickly become a fan favourite at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton have the option to make the move permanent for £50million next summer, and while that might be unlikely for a player who will be about to turn 31, on current form, they are likely to be keen to keep him.
The Manchester Evening News spoke to the Liverpool Echo's Everton writer Christopher Beesley for the lowdown on how Grealish is doing on Merseyside and what might happen in the summer of 2026.
How has Jack Grealish settled in at Everton?
I think we all knew what character Jack Grealish was, and what sort of a person he was. A charismatic individual and what he offered as a player. But on so many levels, this has been a really good move for both parties.
It wasn’t straightforward in terms of his salary, and it obviously had to be a loan deal. Everton were never going to be able to afford a permanent switch this summer.
It’s got Jack enjoying his football again and Evertonians have found a new hero. My colleague has done a piece this week saying you should never fall in love with loan signings but he fears it’s too late for Evertonians with Jack Grealish.
That was probably the case before Jack scored that goal against Crystal Palace, but that was a huge moment for him. David Moyes had told him he needs to be shooting more. The first last-minute winner at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and it was a real pivotal moment for Everton.
What’s his role been in the team?
He’s been strictly a left winger. I know he can play as a 10, but he’s predominantly been on that left wing. The first month of the season, he got Premier League player of the month for the first time in his career in the week of his 30th birthday.
He had four assists from his first two starts, but after that first teak in September, teams were getting wise to it. Everyone has known what Jack Grealish is about for a long time, but after what happened in his first few games for Everton, opponents have been thinking, ‘If you stop him, you stop Everton,’ so they’ve had two or three men on him.
He’s getting a lot of the ball; it’s all going through on him. David Moyes has taken that on a little bit. He’s never been prolific, but he just felt he could add that to his game. He’s perhaps been overperforming just a touch at times and wanted a little bit more end product.
David Moyes has been trying to get him to step up and add goals to his game?
I think so. In stark contrast to Erling Haaland, Everton’s two strikers have only got the one goal between them in the Premier League this season, so it is important that those attacking midfielders contribute and chip in.
We know he can provide the assists, but in terms of the goals as well, he’s never perhaps got as many as somebody of his huge talent could get.
It looked at the end at City like he had lost the spark. Is that back at Everton?
Very much so. I think Kevin Kilbane described it this week as a match made in heaven. Everton have been crying out for someone like that and Jack probably wanted that love.
He’s had huge success at Manchester City and was an integral part of the treble season, but obviously, it was clear at the start of the summer that he was surplus to requirements and it was going to be pastures new.
He just needed that spark and inspiration. He’s probably enjoying being the main man at Everton, going in every day knowing he’s a big part of what the team are all about. It’s an integral moment in Everton’s history, 133 years at Goodison Park, but now looking forward after the longest trophy drought in the club’s history. This is a big moment for Everton and a big moment for Jack Grealish.
Part of the inspiration behind the move will be an attempt to force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup plans. For no fault of Jack, I think that’s going to be difficult for whatever reason. Tuchel doesn’t seem to fancy him, and the way he’s been playing for Everton, you think he would be back in the squad.
While he would be disappointed in that respect, in terms of his bread and butter, club football, he is enjoying it, and he’s enjoying the role he’s playing in the team and the love he’s getting from the supporters.
It sounds like Everton fans have really taken him to their hearts?
It was interesting. From early June onwards, Everton were installed as favourites to land Jack, so it ran for a couple of months before the deal was completed. For once, on social media, there were some really articulate debates about the signing.
I think nobody seriously doubted him as a footballer, but it was a case of the numbers being right for Everton and was it a forward-looking move? From the moment he became an Everton player I think everybody has got on board with this idea of Grealish for Everton.
It’s been the leanest period in the club’s history. The fact that they were so close to not being a Premier League team on a couple of occasions before moving into this new stadium means they could never enjoy the build-up to the stadium move in the way they should have because they were always looking over their shoulders as to whether performances on the pitch were good enough and the two points deductions that came their way.
For all the trials and tribulations of recent years, they were looking for a new hero, somebody they could hang their hopes on, and Jack fits the bill. We know what he’s like as a personality around the club and how he interacts with the fans and his teammates. It’s early days, but it’s gone really well in that respect.
What’s going to happen in the summer? Everton would like to keep him?
I’m sure they would. That fee seems a lot of money for somebody who would almost be 31 at the time, so there would probably have to be quite a bit of negotiation to make that one work. I’m sure there would be a huge appetite from the Eveton end for this to get done if he continues the way he has been playing, but those numbers are going to be crucial.
Everton haven’t got the PSR restrictions that were hampering them for so long, but it would seem an ambitious fee for a player of that age, no matter how talented he was.
In terms of if he carries on the way he is, there is going to be a clamour for that deal to be done and that might be the solution all parties want, but it depends if both clubs can agree on a deal or if a third party comes in.
At the moment it’s all going well but there’s probably going to have to be some serious conversations next summer if they want to take this on further.