The attacking midfielder has joined the Blues on a season-long loan deal, becoming the club's sixth addition of the summer
Jack Grealish has joined Everton on a season-long loan from Manchester City. Image: Everton FC
Jack Grealish has joined Everton on a season-long loan from Manchester City. Image: Everton FC
Jack Grealish has joined Everton on a season-long loan from Manchester City.
The move was signed off after the 29-year-old completed his medical and the clubs reached an agreement that includes an option for the Blues to make it permanent for a fee of £50m. Grealish is the sixth summer signing for David Moyes, who will hope his arrival provides a solution to Everton’s longstanding creative woes.
He will be eligible for the club’s Premier League curtain-raiser at Leeds United on Monday, though his match sharpness will need to be assessed given he has not been a feature of City’s pre-season friendly schedule.
Grealish, who is set to wear the number 18 shirt, said he had already been flooded with messages of support from Blues. He said: "I'm over the moon to have signed for Everton - It's massive for me, honestly. This is a great club, with great fans.
"As soon as I spoke to the manager, I knew there was only one place that I wanted to go. On social media, I've been flooded with messages from Everton supporters, so there's that side of it as well and that's another reason why I chose Everton.
"I want to say thank you to the fans for all of the messages I've had already. Thank you for all of the love and support. I hope I can repay you now and I'm sure I will."
Grealish’s availability has long been known this summer, with the attacking midfielder having fallen out of Pep Guardiola’s plans. He made just seven Premier League starts last season and was left out of the squad that travelled to the USA for the Club World Cup earlier this summer.
Etihad chiefs had hoped to source a move that would have allowed them to recoup a portion of the £100m spent to prise the England international from Aston Villa in 2021 but serious interest in a permanent deal has not been forthcoming. As the transfer window entered its final month, the desire to trim the City squad left the club open to listening to alternative offers and Everton are the side that has taken advantage.
Where Grealish fits into Moyes’ plans is unclear - in Iliman Ndiaye and fellow new signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall he already has quality options that prefer the left side of the pitch. But he will raise the quality and experience of the squad and offer another boost to an attacking unit that has struggled in recent years - a plight that has continued through a difficult pre-season.
The player is not short on incentives to prove himself either. One of his chief targets is to force his way back into the England squad for the World Cup next summer - something that can only be achieved with regular first team minutes.
Grealish will also inject positivity into a club desperate to realise its ambitions of rising up the Premier League table after several seasons of turmoil. New owners, a new stadium and the creation of a new-look squad provide an opportunity to make immediate strides towards the top half of the table.
There remains work to do. Everton are short of specialist options on the right side of the defence and attack, while there is also a desire to secure a deep-lying midfielder should an opportunity arise.
But the two latest additions to the squad - treble-winning Grealish and Club World Cup winner Dewsbury-Hall - represent significant improvements to Moyes’ squad and could act as a catalyst for further high-profile players to follow in the closing weeks of business.
Everton started the summer by making the loan move of attacking midfielder Carlos Alcaraz permanent before signing France Under-21s forward Thierno Barry, former Barcelona academy defender Adam Aznou and Jordan Pickford back-up Mark Travers.
On his latest signing, Moyes said: "We welcome Jack to Everton, and we’re very pleased to have him on board.
“I think we’re getting him at a good time because he’s experienced, he understands the Premier League, and we’re all fully aware of the levels he’s capable of performing to.
“I know Jack’s ambition is to get back into the England squad so hopefully we can help him achieve that over the course of the season. We’re all looking forward to working with him and providing a platform for him to show the best version of himself.”