Grealish jokes Moyes calls him 'a nightmare' after sealing Everton loan return from City

Jack Grealish completed a season-long loan move back to Everton from Manchester City on deadline day, with Iliman Ndiaye heading in the opposite direction to the Etihad Stadium. The 30-year-old’s return to the Hill Dickinson Stadium ends a turbulent summer that included an injury which forced him to miss City’s pre-season tour of Asia.

Grealish had initially joined Everton on loan at the start of last season under the same arrangement, but that spell was cut short in January after he picked up an injury. He returned to Manchester and was present at Co-op Live for Pep Guardiola’s farewell to the club. Although he featured in the second half of the Community Shield and made a brief appearance against Bournemouth, his absence from the travelling squad for the subsequent trip to Crystal Palace effectively confirmed his departure before the summer window closed.

Speaking ahead of Everton’s clash with Manchester United on Sunday, Grealish was candid about his relationship with head coach David Moyes. “I get on really well with him,” he said. “He’d probably tell you, sometimes he’d probably say: ‘Jack’s a nightmare,’ but we have this really good connection.”

The former Aston Villa winger drew a direct line between his rapport with a manager and the quality of his performances. “When I get on really well with a manager, it makes you want to do more for them. It makes you want to give everything for them, play well and succeed for them. And that’s what I want to do.”

Grealish pointed to three managers under whom he produced his best football — Tim Sherwood, Steve Bruce and Dean Smith — as examples of how personal chemistry shapes his game. “I always speak to all of them now on text. I played such good football under all of them and I feel like that with the manager here as well.”

New City head coach Enzo Maresca, who worked alongside Grealish during his time as Guardiola’s assistant, also spoke warmly of the player when addressing his future at the club in July. “He has a big heart, and he’s a very good guy,” Maresca said, adding that the pair had stayed in contact after he left the Etihad.