Everton ‘enthusiastic’ about striking Jack Grealish transfer that won’t cost £50m
Everton are hoping to sign Jack Grealish for £20-25million this summer.
According to a report from the iPaper on Tuesday, Everton never held the intention of triggering the £50m option to sign Grealish on a permanent basis, as they have the option to do so as part of his loan agreement.
It’s understood that Man City are willing to get around the negotiation table over a permanent exit for the 30-year-old, with the player himself believed to be keen on turning his temporary Toffees stay into a permanent one.
However, it’s reported that even if Everton can’t strike a permanent transfer for Grealish, they will again look to sign him on loan for the 2026-27 season.
Grealish has confirmed that his season is over after undergoing surgery this week to repair his foot stress fracture injury, which is a big blow to the remainder of Everton’s season.
- Read more: Jack Grealish sends message as surgery completed at Everton, Declan Rice and Harry Maguire react
Would Grealish be a good signing at the £20-25m price point?
The 30-year-old winger has revitalised his career since joining the Toffees on a season-long loan from Man City in the summer, scoring twice and providing six assists in 20 Premier League appearances.
As such, talks are said to have intensified over a permanent Everton move for Grealish, with the 39-cap England international seemingly holding no future at the Etihad under Pep Guardiola.
However, with Grealish to turn 31 in September, that would be a significant investment into a player who, whilst he has still proven his class this season, isn’t getting any younger.
But, as detailed in the above graphic from Sofascore, Grealish has been a force down the left flank for David Moyes’ side this season.
He’s scored two goals and provided six assists in 20 Premier League games, and is playing an average of 14.6 passes into the final third per game.
However, it remains to be seen whether he may have lost half a step or not following this significant injury, but the £20-25m range feels a very fair and worthwhile gamble for Everton to bet on the chance he hasn’t.
How much wiggle room do Everton have for PSR?
As detailed in the aforementioned IPaper report, Everton are understood to have a £70m net spend figure for the summer in mind as being a comfortable budget figure to keep them in the PSR good books.
Therefore, signing Grealish for £20-25m wouldn’t appear to put them in any real danger financially, and they do look set to sell at least one of Iliman Ndiaye or James Garner for big money in the near future too.
Keeping Grealish would also have its benefits from a dressing room and culture-building standpoint too, as the England international is a brilliant character on and off the pitch.
It would also go a considerable way to appeasing a large section of discontent Everton supporters off the back of the winter window, where many felt the Toffees hierarchy weren’t aggressive or ambitious enough.
So, Everton can afford Grealish at that reported price point, and it looks to be a no-brainer if all parties are happy to proceed.