Jack Grealish makes definitive decision on next club with days left to secure transfer

Jack Grealish has decided he wants to join Everton if he leaves Manchester City, talkSPORT understands.

The winger spent last season on loan at Everton but returned to parent club Man City this summer, playing the second half of the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and making a brief substitute appearance in their Premier League opening-weekend win over Bournemouth.

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However, the 30-year-old’s future remains the subject of speculation, and Everton are one of two clubs that have emerged as potential destinations for Grealish during the current transfer window.

Three clubs interested in Grealish

talkSPORT reported earlier this week that both Everton and Aston Villa – Grealish’s boyhood club where he broke through and ultimately caught the attention of Man City – were interested in a loan deal.

City sources denied an official approach from Sunderland amid reports of an enquiry.

With Grealish out of contract at the end of the season, City would prefer to sell him in order to avoid losing him on a free transfer next summer.

His future must be resolved before the transfer window shuts in five days on September 1.

City boss Enzo Maresca previously suggested there could be a role for Grealish at the club, but he also didn’t rule out a departure for the 39-cap England international.

“He is here and it is my duty to coach Jack and to try to get the best,” he said after City fought back late on to beat Bournemouth 2-1 last Sunday.

“Then it is one more week to go [until the end of the transfer window] and we will see what happens. Not only with Jack but also other players.”

Everton move helped Grealish bounce back

Grealish left on loan for Everton last August in search of more playing time, having been left out of Pep Guardiola’s City’s squad for the Club World Cup.

And he looked to be getting back towards his best for David Moyes‘ side, setting up two goals on his first start.

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In September, he won the league’s Player of the Month award for the first time in his career.

However, a foot injury he picked up against Villa in January ended his campaign prematurely.

Grealish said he was ‘gutted’ to be ruled out for the remainder of the season amid form that, had it continued, might have seen him make England‘s World Cup squad.

Nonetheless, he finished with six Premier League assists and two goals to his name in 2025/26, a strong return all things considered.

Grealish’s City struggles

Grealish joined City from Villa for £100m in the summer of 2021, making him the most expensive British player ever at the time.

He went on to make the best part of 100 appearances in all competitions across his first two seasons with Guardiola‘s men, winning back-to-back Premier League titles and helping City to the treble in 2022/23 – before another Premier League crown followed in 2023/24.

But he generally hasn’t hit the same heights for City as he did during his breakout years at Villa, and a move away could well be necessary to kickstart his career – as his time at Everton showed.