Everton have been handed a boost when it comes to their summer recruitment plans as David Moyes continues the chase for European football.
Everton continue race for Europe as transfer plans made
Saturday's 2-2 draw at Brentford was the kind of result that tells you everything about where Everton are right now.
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Good enough to come back twice and snatch a point from one of the division's form sides, but not yet clinical enough to win the games that would truly separate them from the pack.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's stoppage-time equaliser rescued a share of the spoils in west London, cancelling out Igor Thiago's record-breaking second goal of the afternoon.
A win would have put Everton level on points with Liverpool in fifth.
Instead, they remain eighth, level with Brentford on 47 points but below them on goal difference, and three points off the European qualification places with six fixtures left.
Everton's remaining Premier League games in race for Europe Date
Liverpool (home) April 19
West Ham (away) April 25
Man City (home) May 4
Crystal Palace (away) May 9
Sunderland (home) May 17
Tottenham (away) May 24
The Merseyside derby is next up for Everton, a fixture that carries its own weight regardless of the circumstances, but one that now also carries real table significance.
Moyes has steered this club to a position that would have seemed implausible a year ago.
A return to European football for the first time since 2017/18 is genuinely achievable, and whether they get there could hinge on results in the coming weeks — and, potentially, on whether Man City or Chelsea win the FA Cup, which would open up an additional continental place.
EVERTON MOYES
In the background, Everton are making plans to bolster Moyes' squad ahead of a potentially historic campaign.
Everton given Jack Grealish boost with imminent talks scheduled
Indeed, summer planning is already taking shape at the Hill Dickinson, with TEAMtalk reporting today that Everton have five significant pieces of business in the pipeline.
Jack Grealish and Everton manager David Moyes
The most prominent among them is Jack Grealish.
The Man City winger has been on loan at Everton this season and, before injury intervened, had contributed two goals and six assists in 20 Premier League appearances.
Everton, though, have little desire to trigger the £50m buy option in his loan deal— the fee is simply too high — but they are confident of keeping him.
A second loan, potentially structured with an obligation to buy, or a reduced permanent transfer, are both believed to be under consideration by the Toffees hierarchy.
TEAMtalk reports that talks over Grealish's future are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, and crucially, the player himself has been positive about the prospect of staying on Merseyside for another season.
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The 30-year-old arrived from City having spent four years at the Etihad, and was a key member of Pep Guardiola's 22/23 treble-winning team.
However, injuries and a gradual loss of form eventually made him a peripheral figure in his final seasons there.
Everton represented a chance to rediscover the level that had made him one of the most coveted attackers in the country when he left Aston Villa.
And for large parts of this season, he has done exactly that.
Before the Englishman's injury, Grealish gifted Moyes a creative outlet and a physical presence on the left side that the squad had been missing. His ability to carry the ball, draw fouls and manufacture chances in tight areas suits the way Everton want to play.
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Alongside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and an improved Iliman Ndiaye, Grealish was part of a forward unit that helped power Everton to the top half of the table and into genuine contention for European football.
Snapping him up for next term ultimately feels like a no-brainer.
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