Everton have agreed a deal for Jack Grealish’s return to the club for a second loan spell from Manchester City, after the England winger’s previous stint on Merseyside last season was cut short by injury.
Grealish initially moved to the Hill Dickinson Stadium on loan last summer after falling out of favour at City and proved an instant hit with the club’s fans, scoring twice and making six assists in 20 appearances.
The deal comes on what is proving to be a busy day for Enzo Maresca’s side, with a £65 million deal agreed for Senegal international Iliman N’Diaye to move in the opposite direction, while the Citizens are also targeting a British record move for Chelsea captain Enzo Fernandez.
As well as Grealish, Everton have also agreed a £38.5 million deal with Monaco for United States World Cup star Folarin Balogun, with both players set to undergo medicals and complete their moves ahead of tonight’s deadline.
Ups And Downs After Historic Move
Grealish’s move from his boyhood club Aston Villa to Manchester City in August 2021 saw him make history as the first-ever £100 million English player on a six-year deal, scoring on his Champions League debut against RB Leipzig.
He netted six times in 39 appearances in his debut season at the Etihad, three in 26 coming in the Premier League. His best season came in 2022-23 when he played 50 times as City claimed a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, playing all 90 minutes of the Champions League Final against Inter.
However, he began to find opportunities harder to come by afterwards. He only made 17 Premier League starts over the next couple of seasons and was an unused substitute in the FA Cup final defeats to Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
Loan Provides Spark Before Injury
After making his loan move last summer, Grealish quickly struck up a good relationship with the Everton fans and made an immediate impact, getting both assists as the Toffees beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 in their first match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
At the end of the month, he got two further assists in a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Those performances saw him named Premier League Player of the Month for August 2025, the first monthly award of his career.
He scored against Crystal Palace in October and Bournemouth in December, both goals proving to be winners. However, bad luck was just around the corner as he suffered a foot injury against former club Villa, which required surgery, bringing his season and first loan spell at Everton to a premature end
International Return A Likely Aim
As well as getting regular football at club level, Grealish is likely to be targeting adding to his 39 England caps, having been yet to feature for the Three Lions so far under Thomas Tuchel, with his last appearance coming in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League under interim boss Lee Carsley.
He represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level, but in 2015 he announced his decision to officially declare for the country of his birth. He was called into the senior England squad for the first time in September 2020 for games against Iceland and Denmark, making his debut as a 76th-minute substitute against the Danes.
He was named in the squad for UEFA Euro 2020 and played a key role in the 2-0 win over Germany in the Round of 16, also featuring at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scoring the final goal in the 6-2 win over Iran. Although he was named in the provisional squad for UEFA Euro 2024, he was one of the players cut from the final squad.
It is perhaps a sign of the good relationship he built with the Everton fans in a short space of time last season that he made it clear a return to the Hill Dickinson Stadium was his preference, despite reports also linking him with a potential return to Villa.
At his peak, he was a key player for club and country and will be hoping to get back to that. His City contract expires at the end of the season, so if all goes well this time around, he could stay on Merseyside on a permanent basis.
