The 29-year-old would become the club's sixth addition of the summer
Jack Grealish of Manchester City after his side's 1-0 defeat during the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City. The playmaker is close to joining Everton. Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Jack Grealish of Manchester City after his side's 1-0 defeat during the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City. The playmaker is close to joining Everton. Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Jack Grealish is closing on a move to Everton. The attacking midfielder is due to undergo a medical after talks between the Blues and Manchester City advanced towards an agreement. The 29-year-old would move to Merseyside on a season-long loan should the final stages of the move be overcome successfully.
The England international would become the sixth signing of the summer for David Moyes and provide a significant boost in his efforts to raise creativity in a squad that has struggled for goals over recent campaigns and through pre-season.
Grealish had been expected to leave the Etihad all summer after falling out of favour with manager Pep Guardiola. The former Aston Villa star was left out of the squad that travelled to the USA for the Club World Cup and has not been part of the club’s pre-season plans. He did not feature in the trip to Sicily as Man City faced sister club Palermo this weekend.
Links with Everton have persisted through the summer but Man City’s preference was for a permanent transfer that would allow them to recoup some of the £100m spent on signing him from Villa.
Such interest has not materialised, leaving the club open to negotiations. As Grealish’s future became increasingly uncertain, Everton’s squad rebuild for an historic first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium has unfolded slower than Moyes hoped.
The Blues boss has cut a frustrated figure in recent weeks, stressing the club is working hard to bring players in but revealing that convincing stars of sufficient quality to meet the club's ambitions have been tough to attract given Everton are unable to offer European football.
Everton finished pre-season with a home defeat to Roma, ending a summer campaign of four defeats, a draw and just one win - behind closed doors against League One Port Vale.
The loss on Saturday was another reminder of Everton’s long-term struggles in the final third.
Addressing them has become a priority of Moyes and the hope is Grealish could solve those issues while also acting as a catalyst to efforts to bring in further players on Moyes’ wishlist. Everton are desperately short of options on the right wing while there are also hopes to add depth in central midfield and at right back.
Everton have so far added forward Thierno Barry, defender Adam Aznou, goalkeeper Mark Travers and midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to their squad, while also making the loan deal for attacking midfielder Carlos Alcaraz permanent.