Everton CEO confirms contact with Grealish but stops short of sealing permanent deal

Everton CEO Angus Kinnear has confirmed the club remains in contact with Jack Grealish after his successful loan spell last season, but stopped short of announcing a permanent deal for the Manchester City winger.

Grealish, 30, spent last season on loan at Everton, scoring two goals and registering six assists in 20 Premier League appearances before a foot injury ended his campaign in January. He chose to continue his rehabilitation at the club rather than return to City, a gesture that Kinnear says strengthened the relationship between player and club.

“Jack is a player we have remained in contact with,” Kinnear told BBC Radio Merseyside. “It was no secret that he decided to have his rehabilitation done here for the remainder of last season, when he didn’t have to do that — he could have gone back to Man City. I think he is a player who has fallen in love with the right shade of blue, but ultimately he is a Manchester City player at the moment and we need to respect that.”

Grealish marked his return to fitness by coming on at half-time in Manchester City’s 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal — his first appearance for the club in over a year. The outing brought renewed speculation over his future, with Everton among those monitoring his situation.

Kinnear acknowledged that the warmth shown to Grealish during his spell at Hill Dickinson Stadium had opened the door to longer-term discussions. “The supporters and the team embraced him, treated him as if he was one of our own, and that gave us a very good platform to have a longer-term conversation with him,” he said. “But at the moment, the most important thing is he is back and fit — he had a very serious injury and worked really hard to get back from that, so I was delighted to see him get some minutes at the Community Shield.”

Everton have already brought in five players this summer window, including wingers Brennan Johnson and Tyrique George. Manager David Moyes, however, has made clear he wants further reinforcements before the September 1 transfer deadline.

“We’re still needing quite a few players to add to the squad. I’d like to do more if possible — we need to see how the remaining few weeks go,” Moyes said. Whether Grealish features in those plans remains unconfirmed.