Jack Grealish is poised to join Everton on a season’s loan after agreeing to leave Manchester City in an attempt to revive his stalled career.
Everton’s interest in the City midfielder was reciprocated over the weekend with Grealish accepting an opportunity to be part of the club’s first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The 29-year-old wants to move in time to feature in Everton’s opening game of the Premier League season at Leeds. He is due to begin a medical on Monday.
City are looking to recoup most of Grealish’s £300,000-a-week wages and Everton’s outlay could exceed £12m once a loan fee is accounted for. City also want to include an option for a permanent transfer, although a suggested price of £50m appears optimistic for a player who will be 30 and in the final year of his contract in 12 months. City’s financial demands are unlikely to scupper the move, however.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Grealish is determined to reignite his career in the Premier League before the World Cup next summer. The £100m signing from Aston Villa, who has had several offers to leave City this summer, missed out on the England squad for the 2024 European Championship after losing his regular first-team place under Pep Guardiola.
The playmaker’s role has continued to decline since the high mark of City’s treble-winning season in 2023. He made seven Premier League starts last season, scoring once, and was omitted from Guardiola’s 27-man squad for the Club World Cup this summer.
Moyes is desperate to inject more creativity into his side. Everton have made five signings, including Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea for £28m, but remain short of attacking options. Southampton have rejected three offers from Everton for Tyler Dibling, the latest at about £40m, and are holding out for about £50m. A right-sided forward is a priority for Moyes and Everton, who lost their fourth friendly of pre-season against Roma on Saturday, are considering alternative options to the 19-year-old.
Nottingham Forest are closer to signing midfielder James McAtee from City. A bid worth £25m was rejected by City last month, but Forest have increased their offer.
McAtee won the European Under-21 Championship with England in June, but is not part of Guardiola’s plans. He made 15 Premier League appearances last season, scoring three times, but the academy graduate has never been at regular at the Etihad Stadium. McAtee had interest from Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund, but was eager to stay in England.
Forest are also keen to add a striker, full-back and central midfielder. Regarding midfielders they maintain interest in Monaco’s Soungoutou Magassa and Milan’s Yunus Musah, and Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas is a potential defensive reinforcement.
Savinho could also be heading for a City exit after Tottenham registered an interest in the winger. Preliminary talks have been held over the 21-year-old, who joined City from Girona last summer. It is expected to take at least £50m for City to consider selling the Brazilian. Spurs are looking for attacking reinforcements after missing out on Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and losing James Maddison to a long-term knee injury.
Any outgoings may be followed by City looking to strengthen their options in the final third. They are understood to be considering a hijack of Chelsea’s pursuit of RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons. Chelsea have held talks over the Netherlands international, but have not made progress on a fee and want to sell players before lodging a bid.
The deadlock may open the door for City to move for Simons, who has also been linked with Bayern Munich. Chelsea have agreed personal terms with the versatile 22-year-old, but the situation is complicated by their desire to find buyers for Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Tyrique George before making additions.
Chelsea have plenty of depth and are determined not to panic after the England defender Levi Colwill sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury. They have options in central defence and will try to sign a new centre-back only if a suitable player comes on to the market.
