David Moyes speaks with Jack Grealish during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
David Moyes speaks with Jack Grealish during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
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David Moyes wants Jack Grealish to step up to become a role model for the young attacking players around him in the Everton squad.
The Blues boss is excited at the prospect of a match-fit Grealish and hopeful he can have a similar impact to his first loan spell on Merseyside. The playmaker scored two match-winners and created six goals before injury ended his campaign early.
Now Moyes wants the 31-year-old to exercise his influence by showing the likes of Tyrique George and Tyler Diblinghow to kick-on in their careers.
The return of Grealish to the Hill Dickinson Stadium was a ray of light on a bleak transfer deadline day that saw Everton end the summer with a smaller squad than the one whose European bid faded in the final weeks of last season.
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The manager struck up an instant bond with the Manchester City loanee, which made securing his return more straightforward.
Ahead of the Blues trip to Tottenham Hotspur, Moyes explained: “I think Jack knows what I expect now. We had lots of conversations last year. He knows when he comes here there is an opportunity for him to play and to show what he can do.
“But I also want him to be a senior professional and a role model. We’ve got Tyrique and Tyler and if ever you are looking at somebody for how to play as a wide player, Jack Grealish would certainly be one of them. I think both of them could learn an awful lot from Jack and I want him to become that senior citizen amongst them, somebody who teaches them.
“I think we’ve got a mature Jack Grealish now as well in terms of understanding the game and what is required, being a team player – not that he is an individual but he plays with an individual style.”
Grealish’s return has lifted spirits around the club and his impact off the bench was crucial in helping his team secure a draw with Manchester United on Sunday.
Given the heights he reached before suffering a stress fracture to his foot in January, Moyes is aware there will be pressure on the Champions League winner to deliver again.
He said: “If there is one person who would be able to carry that it would be Jack, just because of the way he is. He will find it easy to carry expectation and he’ll be happy to do so. That’s his character.
“I do think that is the case [that there is more expectation in the second season] because everybody wants Jack to get back to where he was. His first three months for us last season were hugely important in getting us wins, so now it is about getting him right to perform at that level again.
“He’s had six-and-a-half months out. He’s had no pre-season games, he came on for 15 minutes in the Community Shield, so he’s had no real football and I think Jack is someone who thrives on the football. He gets himself fit through the games more so than the training. We need to be careful and see how he goes but he’s looking good.”