Jack Grealish’s season over: Everything Everton and Man City fans need to know about wages, loan termination and transfer fee
David Moyes has confirmed that Jack Grealish’s season is over.
Grealish, 30, suffered a stress fracture in his foot after Everton‘s 1-0 win at Aston Villa on 18 January, leading him to miss last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
Before that stalemate with Leeds, Moyes revealed that there was no timescale on Grealish’s recovery.
However, on Friday, the Toffees manager revealed the worst-case scenario has come to fruition, with the on-loan playmaker now set to undergo surgery.
“We believe he is probably going to need surgery, and it probably rules him out for the rest of the season,” said Moyes ahead of Everton’s trip to Brighton on Saturday, as quoted by Paul Joyce.
How much are Everton paying for Jack Grealish?
Grealish joined Everton on a season-long loan from Manchester City in the summer.
It was, without a doubt, a masterstroke of a deal, because no loan fee was involved, and Everton had already looked at signing Grealish permanently later this year for £30million.
However, the Blues did agree to cover three-quarters of the playmaker’s £300,000-a-week Man City wages, amounting to £225,000-a-week.
If Grealish’s loan deal ends at the end of the season, which is over 16 weeks away, it means that the Toffees still have to pay at least £3.6m in wages for the ex-Aston Villa star.
Of course, had Grealish stayed fit, many would argue that the huge wages paid for him have been justified with the Brummie forward scoring two goals and supplying six assists in his 20 Premier League appearances this season.
Do Everton have to pay the rest of Grealish’s wages, and will Man City recall him?
It’s a brutal time for Grealish and for Evertonians, who have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the 39-cap England international playing in their colours this term.
For the first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Grealish has been a marquee signing and a superstar player, too.
However, the harsh truth is that Man City won’t be obliged to recall Grealish from his loan, nor will they be willing to help cover the wages Everton will owe him.
The only thing that could happen now is if Everton had some kind of clause in their loan deal with Grealish, where they could terminate it this winter, or something happens with the wages in case of an injury.
But as Man City were so keen to offload the winger in the summer, they likely stacked the terms of that deal in their favour from a financial standpoint.
It wouldn’t make sense for them to include clauses like that because it would have offered financial uncertainty.
With a straight, season-long loan that has a fixed wage agreement and no termination clauses, Man City would have been able to play their outgoings for the whole campaign.
Sorry, Evertonians. But it looks as though another few million pounds will leave the club’s accounts and head to Grealish’s bank, even though he won’t be playing for them again – unless they can strike a permanent deal in the summer.
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