Jack Grealish made the most of his time at Everton this season, as he appeared to rediscover his love of the game in playing for the Toffees when the campaign began.
A stress fracture in his foot ended the year prematurely, but the winger opted to stay on Merseyside rather than return to his parent club for rehab. The England international was often seen around Hill Dickinson during home matches, cementing his place as a fan favorite.
The conversation through the end of the season has been that Everton wanted to bring Grealish back for next year, and that the player was keen to return as well. The consideration was for another loan, as Grealish will be in the final year of his contract next season.
But a new development at Manchester City may make that move less nailed on than many would have thought.
New City manager may hand Grealish a "lifeline"
With Pep Guardiola now out as City manager, the expectation is that Enzo Maresca will step in as their new manager, having left Chelsea on January 1 after internal fighting with ownership.
According to Jeremy Cross at The Mirror, Maresca plans to meet with Grealish "about the chances of him reviving his City career."
If the issue with Grealish's time at City was Pep-related, then it's possible that he'd be intrigued by an opportunity to revive his career with the club that made him the record signing for a British player back in 2021.
While he's clearly enjoyed his time at Everton, it's also obvious that City offers Grealish plenty that the Toffees cannot: namely, a chance to win trophies and play in the Champions League next season.
Heading into his age-31 season (he'll turn 31 in early September) and with no years left on his contract after this one, that opportunity might not come again, even if he seemed to be back to his old self in many ways while at Everton this season.
This is going to be a busy summer for Everton from a transfer standpoint, and bringing Grealish back shouldn't be priority number 1 for the Toffees anyway.
And there is an argument to be made that making Tyrique George a permanent member of the squad or focusing on the development of Tyler Dibling would be better ways to improve the wing play for next season. A return for Grealish would make those moves unlikely.
It will be something to monitor as the summer goes along, but one thing is for sure: a situation that seemed inevitable a few weeks ago doesn't feel that way anymore.
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