The latest rumor surrounding Everton is a fairly massive one, surrounding a star player who hasn't seen much playing time since his big move from Aston Villa to Manchester City: England's own Jack Grealish.
According to Harry Watkinson at TEAMTalk, Grealish and City manager Pep Guardiola have discussed the players future with the club and "it has become clear that a fresh start somewhere else would suit both parties."
The England international joined City in 2021 after two massive seasons in the Premier League with Villa upon their return to the top flight for a then club record £100 million fee. But staying on the pitch and working his way up Pep's pecking order has been difficult for Grealish, who has started just 17 league matches over the last two years.
Watkinson goes on to name Everton as a team to watch should City not be able to sell the player (they're looking to "recoup a significant chunk of what it cost his club to sign Grealish in the first place," which is unlikely) and opt to send him out on loan, mostly because the Toffees are both in the process of shedding a massive chunk of their wage bill from this past season and they'll need attacking help on the wing.
There is the trouble of the wage bill they'd be taking on, however, even if they are unloading a lot of players this summer, freeing up space. Grealish reportedly earns in the neighborhood of
£300,000 per week, a number that would eclipse Everton's current highest-paid player, Jordan Pickford, by nearly threefold.
Whether it would make sense for Everton to immediately bring in a player on those wages, or if they could even afford it at all (or, more likely, if they'd want to spend that much on a single player) remains unknown, but it does feel a little like this:
Still, with Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom leaving after their loans end and Charly Alcaraz's Everton future up in the air, another attacking option on the wings for Everton is needed and they'll spend a great deal of time this summer building up that part of their squad.
It will take City being willing to take on a large chunk of the wages, but if they can convince the Sky Blues to do it, adding Grealish on a reasonable loan deal would make a lot of sense for Everton and for the player. It would also allow City to see him build his value back so they can sell him in 2026 and hope to get anything near what they paid for him.
It would have to be the perfect scenario for it to work out, but bringing Jack Grealish to Merseyside is something Everton should pursue until it falls apart.