In the chaos of deadline week, with phones ringing off the hook and executives living on coffee and adrenaline, Everton have reached for something they know. Jack Grealish is coming back to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The 30-year-old will rejoin the club on a season-long loan from Manchester City, with a medical booked for Tuesday morning and the paperwork lined up to beat the clock. No fanfare needed. Everton supporters already know exactly who they’re getting.
Ndiaye Out, Grealish Back In
This move starts with a loss. Iliman Ndiaye is heading in the opposite direction, bound for Manchester City in a deal worth up to $88 million (£65 million). The fee gives Everton room to manoeuvre, but it also rips out a key attacking piece from David Moyes’ plans days before the window shuts.
Moyes needed a replacement, and he needed one fast. So Everton went straight back to the club taking Ndiaye away from them and asked for a favour of sorts. Talks for Grealish began within hours.
Grealish knows this route. He spent last season on loan at Everton, where he produced two goals and six assists in 22 appearances before a stress fracture in his foot cut his campaign short in January. The numbers only tell part of the story. His swagger on the ball, his willingness to graft, his easy connection with the crowd — he became a genuine favourite at Hill Dickinson.
The injury stopped that story cold, but it didn’t end it. Everton kept in touch with him through the summer, even as Sunderland and Aston Villa circled. The bond mattered. When the Ndiaye deal pushed Everton back into the market, Grealish was not a name on a long list. He was the name.
The agreement is in place. Medical, signatures, formalities — all set to be wrapped up in the final hours before Tuesday’s deadline.
A Financial Statement From Everton
This is not a cheap nostalgia play. It’s a financial statement.
Everton are set to cover around 90% of Grealish’s wages, a hefty outlay when he earns close to $405,000 (£300,000) a week. There is no loan fee attached, but the wage commitment alone tells you how determined the club are to bring him back.
Built into the deal is an option to buy next summer for $67.5 million (£50 million), right as his City contract expires. It’s a clean line: if this season works for both sides, Everton can turn the reunion into something permanent.
For City, it closes a chapter that never quite reached the heights the transfer fee promised. Grealish joined from Aston Villa in 2021 for a then-British-record $135 million (£100 million), lifted trophies under Pep Guardiola and played his part in a dominant era. But the last seasons have brought fewer minutes, more frustration, and the reality of a huge contract that complicated any permanent exit.
This second loan to Everton solves problems on both sides. City free up space and wages. Grealish gets what he has been starved of: regular football in a team that wants to build around his strengths. Everton get a player who already knows the dressing room, the manager, and the demands of the supporters.
What Grealish Gives Moyes
At his sharpest, Grealish is a nightmare to defend against. He carries the ball at pace, draws fouls, and forces defenders to make choices they don’t want to make. He drags teams around, opens channels for runners, and slows the game down when his side need a breath.
His first spell at Everton proved that the talent is still there away from the Etihad glare. Moyes trusted him in big moments, and the fans responded to the blend of flair and work rate. The foot injury was a brutal interruption, but he has recovered and already featured briefly for City this season.
Now he walks back into a club that has changed shape again. Everton have agreed a deal worth more than $54 million (£40 million) for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun from Monaco, a move that signals a new focal point up front. At the same time, Beto is on his way to Fiorentina for $23 million (£17 million), another piece of the attacking jigsaw shifted out to make room.
Grealish will be asked to stitch this new-look frontline together. To link with Balogun, to carry the ball through lines, to give Moyes a reliable outlet when the game turns frantic. He is not just a returning favourite; he is a central part of a late-window rebuild.
The Stakes of a Second Chance
Because Grealish is out of contract next summer, this loan is more than a stopgap. It doubles as a long audition for a permanent move at $67.5 million (£50 million). If he thrives, Everton have first refusal on a player who, at his peak, was one of the Premier League’s most watchable attackers. If he stalls, both club and player walk away clean.
For now, the timeline is simple. Pass the medical. Sign the forms. Get back in a blue shirt before the window slams shut.
City will move on with their refreshed squad and their new signing in Ndiaye. Everton will try to turn the loss of one attacking star into the rebirth of another. And Grealish, at 30, walks into a season that could define the rest of his career.
The last time he left Hill Dickinson, it was on crutches. This time, he arrives with the ball at his feet and a point to prove.
