Grealish Returns to Everton on Loan After Ndiaye Sale

On a frantic final day of the window, with phones buzzing and deals collapsing by the hour, Everton have gone for something they know works. Jack Grealish is coming back to Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The 30-year-old will rejoin on a season-long loan from Manchester City, with his medical booked for Tuesday morning as the deadline ticks down. Barring late drama, he’ll be an Everton player again before the window slams shut.

Ndiaye Out, Grealish In

This move starts with the one that hurt. Iliman Ndiaye is on his way to Manchester City in a deal worth up to $88 million (£65 million), a sale that ripped a key attacking piece out of David Moyes’ side just as the season was taking shape.

Everton’s response was immediate. If City were taking one of their stars, they would try to take one back.

Talks for Grealish opened within hours. Moyes knew exactly what he was getting. The England international spent last season on loan at Everton, scoring two goals and providing six assists in 22 appearances before a stress fracture in his foot cut him down in January.

His numbers only told part of the story. Grealish’s swagger on the ball, his willingness to work, and his obvious enjoyment of the shirt turned him into a genuine fan favourite. Even while he rehabbed and returned to City, Everton kept the lines of communication open through the summer.

They were not alone. Sunderland and Aston Villa both showed interest, but Everton moved with the urgency of a club that had just lost a cornerstone. An agreement in principle is now in place, with only the medical and final paperwork standing between Grealish and a second spell on Merseyside.

A Big Financial Swing

If anyone doubted how badly Everton wanted him, the numbers answer that.

The club will reportedly cover around 90% of Grealish’s wages. That is a serious outlay when his salary sits close to $405,000 (£300,000) a week. There is no loan fee on top, but the wage commitment alone underlines how central Moyes sees him to this rebuild.

Built into the deal is an option to buy next summer for $67.5 million (£50 million), timed for when Grealish’s City contract runs out. It’s a clear path to a permanent move if this season goes as both sides hope.

For City, it’s a pragmatic solution. They paid a then-British-record $135 million (£100 million) to bring him in from Aston Villa in 2021, and he has left with medals and memories from Pep Guardiola’s trophy-laden years. But his minutes have shrunk, his role squeezed by competition and evolving tactics.

With his contract running down and his wages making a straight permanent sale complicated, another loan made sense. City clear space and salary. Grealish gets what he has been missing: a guaranteed platform and regular football.

Everton, meanwhile, take on the risk and the reward.

What Grealish Gives Moyes

At full tilt, Grealish is exactly the kind of player Hill Dickinson Stadium responds to. He carries the ball at pace, draws fouls, and shifts defenders out of position, creating room for others to exploit. He wants the ball when the game gets tight. He wants responsibility.

His first spell under Moyes showed he can still do it away from the Etihad. The connection with the crowd was obvious, and his work without the ball matched the demands of a manager who does not tolerate passengers.

The injury was a blow, but he has recovered and already featured briefly for City this season. This is not a rehab loan. This is a restart.

He walks back into an attack that looks very different from the one he left. Everton have agreed a deal worth more than $54 million (£40 million) for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun from Monaco, reshaping the front line. Beto heads to Fiorentina for $23 million (£17 million), another piece moved out to fund the new look.

Grealish slots in as the creative force around that change, the player tasked with knitting it all together in the final third.

A Loan With an Edge

Because his City contract expires next summer, this isn’t just a nostalgic reunion. It’s an audition.

If Grealish thrives and Everton are ready to commit, the option to buy at $67.5 million (£50 million) turns this from a stopgap into a long-term statement. If it doesn’t click, both sides walk away with clarity.

For now, the priority is simple: get him through the medical, get the signatures done, and get him back in blue in time to matter from the first weeks of the campaign.

City move on, armed with the Ndiaye money and more room in their squad. Everton replace the player they just sold with a face the fans already sing for. And Grealish, at 30, stands at a decisive point in his career, stepping back into a club where he knows exactly how loud it can get when he starts to run at defenders again.