Jack Grealish Returns to Everton on Loan
Jack Grealish is heading back to Everton. Deadline ticking, phones ringing, deals collapsing and reviving by the minute – and in the middle of it all, the Toffees have gone back for the winger who lit up Hill Dickinson Stadium last season.
The 30-year-old will rejoin on a season-long loan from Manchester City, with a medical booked for Tuesday morning as the window slams shut. The agreement is in place; only the formalities stand between Grealish and a second spell under David Moyes.
Ndiaye out, Grealish back in
This move starts with a different name. Iliman Ndiaye is on his way to Manchester City in a deal worth up to $88 million (£65 million), a sale that ripped a hole in Everton’s attacking plans and forced Moyes into an instant rethink.
The response was ruthless and direct. Everton went straight back to the club taking Ndiaye from them and opened talks for Grealish within hours. No scouting trips, no long lists. They knew exactly who they wanted.
Grealish spent last season on loan with Everton, scoring two goals and adding six assists in 22 appearances before a stress fracture in his foot cut him down in January. By then, he had already won over the stands – the swagger on the ball, the graft off it, the sense that he enjoyed carrying responsibility for a club that badly needed it.
Even as he worked his way back from injury, Everton never really let the relationship cool. They kept in touch across the summer, aware that Sunderland and Aston Villa were circling. When Ndiaye’s move to City accelerated, those conversations turned into action. Now, with the deadline looming, Grealish is hours away from pulling the shirt back on.
A huge financial play
The numbers show how badly Everton want this to work.
They are set to cover around 90% of Grealish’s salary – close to $405,000 (£300,000) a week – with no loan fee going to City. On top of that, the deal carries an option to buy for $67.5 million (£50 million) next summer, when his City contract runs out.
For City, it’s a clean piece of business. They signed him from Aston Villa in 2021 for a then-British-record $135 million (£100 million) and he has left with a stack of medals from his time under Pep Guardiola. But as competition intensified and minutes grew scarce, the fit looked less and less natural.
A permanent sale this summer was always awkward given his wages. A second loan to Everton solves several problems at once: City free up space in the squad and on the wage bill, while Grealish gets what he has been starved of – consistent game time in a team built to use him.
What Moyes is getting back
At full tilt, Grealish is a nightmare to defend. He carries the ball at pace, draws fouls, drags defenders out of shape and creates lanes for runners around him. His first stint at Everton proved he can still bend a game to his will away from the Etihad spotlight.
Supporters warmed not just to the tricks and touches, but to his work rate and obvious comfort in the environment. The foot injury was a major setback, yet he has recovered and already featured briefly for City this season. This is not a rehab project; it’s a player looking for rhythm and a manager ready to hand it to him.
Everton’s attack around him is changing fast. The club have agreed a deal worth more than $54 million (£40 million) for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun from Monaco, while Beto is heading to Fiorentina for $23 million (£17 million). Grealish walks back into a frontline being rebuilt on the fly, with space for a creator who can knit it all together.
A loan with a clear horizon
Because Grealish’s City contract expires next summer, this move carries a clear possible endgame. If the season goes well, Everton can turn the loan into a permanent transfer for around $64–67.5 million (£50 million), depending on which figure is ultimately locked in.
For now, the urgency is simple: get him through the medical, get the paperwork signed, get him back on the pitch before the window closes on Tuesday night.
City move on with a reshaped squad. Everton recover a player who already feels like one of their own while filling the void left by Ndiaye. And Grealish? He gets another chance to prove that, given trust and minutes, he can still be the difference-maker every big club once chased.
