Two thumbs up, Jack Grealish was smiling from his hospital bed as he confirmed Everton’s worst kept secret.
“Didn’t want the season to end like this, gutted,” the caption on his Instagram post read. And just like that it was over – 22 games, two goals, six assists and a loan move that felt like a bit of a game-changer for Everton.
But is it the last the club will see of Grealish, who has promised to return from a stress fracture of his foot “fitter, stronger and better than before”?
Don’t bet on it, at least not according to those familiar with the situation surrounding a winger who has rediscovered his love for football at the Hill Dickinson Stadium this season.
There is a £50m option to turn the loan into a permanent move that becomes active after the end of the season but that was never intended to set Grealish’s price.
Instead it was more for accounting purposes, to set Manchester City’s valuation of the player in the summer of 2025.
While Everton will not trigger that clause there is some enthusiasm for bringing him back at the club next year, either on a permanent basis or through another season-long loan.
And the noises from City are that they are ready to get around the table at the end of the campaign if Everton want to make it happen.
Everton’s valuation, The i Paper has been told, is much closer to the £20-25m mark – still a considerable outlay for a player who will turn 31 in September.
Premier League clubs don’t tend to spend that kind of money on players reaching the end of their career but Grealish possesses star quality and has been able to affect big matches this season.
Commercially he is also a dream and insiders believe that his signing also helped open doors to recruit other players, sending a message that the club have turned the page on the era of annual relegation fights. The Toffees are understood to have committed £12m to the loan.
Grealish certainly appears up for it anyway. He has enjoyed working under David Moyes – who retains that trademark intensity and has challenged Grealish to provide more assists and goals – and is open to a return.
With or without him, the next stage of the Everton rebuild is intriguing.
As detailed by The i Paper last month, the plan was never to do big business in January but the loan move for Chelsea’s Tyrique George, 20, seemed to follow the club’s blueprint of driving down the average age and bringing in players of potential.
Moyes has always made the case that established, experienced players are also required to give the squad balance – and there was agreement that Grealish represented a special case in the summer.
Wages could also be another factor. While financial constraints via either profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) or the new squad cost ratio (SCR) rules are loosening, Everton still have to be aware of the bottom line of any deals they broker.
Football finance experts have told The i Paper that the club is likely to have enough PSR “headroom” to comfortably commit to a £70m net spend in the summer.
Of course that figure will balloon if they manage to secure European football this season, which remains a distinct possibility with Everton nestled just six points away from fifth ahead of the midweek Premier League matches.
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