Should the Toffees sign Jack Grealish on loan?

At 29 he's definitely not past his best.

This is his last big chance to make the World Cup squad. He was played out of position by Guardiola, and he has a huge incentive to show what he can do in his best position playmaker.

He would be a huge coup in my opinion.

My only concern is how do we afford his wages, even if only paying half?

Assuming we did, would it cause unrest in the dressing room?

Yes, they should — and do it yesterday please.

Derek, what makes you think it would cause unrest?

I'm pretty sure that is the case with all players from all teams. I doubt there's many players who are on the same wages anyway.

Plus you pay for what you get. Grealish is a big name, who would bring much more commercially than anyone else in the team.

All day long, could be a game winner for us.

If we get the best of Jack, he could transform our attack and we won't look back.

Derek @2,

As for meeting his wage demands, with both Doucoure and Calvert-Lewin off the payroll, that's about £250k per week saved.

Also, I think that might encourage some that they haven't been able to get over the line to maybe reconsider.

Not sure if he is the right fit.

If the aim is to build a young, hungry-for-success team, would a done-it-all, won-it-all, seen-it-all figure suit?

I became aware of Jack Grealish as a 17-year-old playing for Ireland's under-age side and followed his career closely since. Therefore, as big a fan as I am and was of the player, some who know me would be surprised to hear me say that I don't think I would want him at Everton.

It's not that I am totally opposed to the idea… and it wouldn't surprise me, if it happened, that he would be a catalyst for the rejuvenation of Everton; however, in light of recent links and my instinct of what made him great was that fleet footedness and burst of acceleration which I don't think he possesses anymore.

I think he would be a very good player for Everton but not a great player; considering he has never been the most prolific, and the costs involved, I would prefer to proceed with other links.

I think Jack would be best as a Number 10 and so, from what I have been reading about Fofana over the last few days, as well as a player in Tyler Dibling, who I view to be like the old Jack Grealish (with perhaps more end product), they would be the direction I would go, if possible.

They would allow the likes of Ndiaye, Alcaraz and McNeil all to play in their more favoured central position yet still provide cover wide or, in McNeil's case, as a wing back where necessity requires.

If we were to raid Man City, I would much prefer to sign McAtee as I can see him having a really big season wherever he ends up.

Andrew,

You sound like he would not bother to play.

I believe top professional players have ambitions wherever they play. I believe a player like Grealish who has, as you say, won it all, would consider it a challenge to help a team with Everton's reputation that has languished in the bottom part of the league for more years than is healthy, to get them to the Top 10 in the Premier League and, if possible, win a trophy.

Not for me. Past his best and, as Conor says, pace has gone.

We've signed too many players too late in their careers over the past decade.

Conor, how about Grealish with a Dibbling, Kubo, or Fofana?

Someone with genuine creativity, who can travel with the ball and release an Ndiaye, Fofana etc?

He's not the answer to the pacey right-winger requirements but, on a loan for £150k a week, he would elevate the way we play and attack.

It would be the end of the big punt from Pickford and would encourage us to have the ball for more than 30% of the time.

It would also give Alcaraz and Ndiaye genuine competition for places.

We never seem to do well with the old "revive a fading star" routine. Dele Alli, Norman Whiteside etc.

People will say "What about Gray and Reid?" Well, neither man was of the status of Alli, Grealish, Whiteside pre-Everton.

Even beyond Everton, these types who seem to lose their way dramatically for one reason or another in their late 20s (Harry Kewell, Jesse Lingard, Wilshere, Hargreaves, Brolin, Paulo Future) seldom enjoy a lasting swansong elsewhere.

Usually, they just add to the wage bill.

I've said a few times, it's not the move I'd prefer us to make. It depends on the deal but, although he'd be one of the better players in the team, I'd prefer we focused major resources (and even if City paid 50% his wages would be huge) on younger players on their way to being the next Grealish. I would be more excited about Fofana or Kubo or Dibling.

If he was a right winger with a good history of being available, it might be different… but it's not quite the right fit for me. Though a year's loan on a decent deal could be fun for both parties.

i don't have a problem with Grealish. He's a very good, experienced pro who will improve the squad and the club's profile.

Trust the club, its manager and new owners not to make the same mistakes of the Moshiri era. They've offloaded some high earners and, if the financial figures say it works, then so be it.

Let's not forget that Grealish was a £100M player and England international not long ago. Compare him to Blomquist and Harrison (both good pros by the way) and let's celebrate that we are aiming higher.

We're building a squad which is a blend of youth and experience, maybe our fan base needs to be optimistic instead of always looking for negatives.

Connor,

If Ndiaye and McNeil are best in the middle, then that would leave space for Grealish on the left. It would give Moyes more options.

Kieran - Harry Kane has made a good move at a relatively late age.

I said Blomquist when I meant Lindstrom!!!

Ha ha — always got those two mixed up!

If we signed Grealish, he would be the best player at the club by miles. It would be something to look forward to for a change.

Why should supporters fret over his pay? It is beyond our control, so get him in and enjoy it.

Kieran, it's an interesting point.

I think a lot of people can't get excited about a transfer unless they've seen the player perform at the level we aspire to. There's a sort of logic to that.

But for as long as I can remember, we can only afford that sort of player once they've passed their peak or been broken in some way (injury, drink, drugs or mental health).

I think there's also a bit of keeping up with the Joneses going on too – with a lot of this summer's gnashing of teeth being down to heavy spending by the RS.

Whatever people may claim about a professional's motivation, quite a lot of professional footballers hit a point where they can't really be arsed anymore.

I don't think Grealish has hit that point – and I don't think he's broken either – but he has passed his peak now. And I don't think any clubs with proper money seem interested (other than in Saudi) which kind of undermines the keeping up with the Joneses thing.

That said, if we could do a deal on his astronomical wages and keep him fit, he could be a really interesting loan signing. It would sell shirts too.

The Irish contingent on here should remember Eamon Coghlan running a 3:58 mile at age 40.

Loss or retention of speed depends a lot on how you train.

Think Kevin Campbell was 29 when we signed him on loan.

A real gent of a man, a role model to many and went on to be a captain of Everton, lifting it when it was on its knees.

Some had him as finished when he went to Turkey.

I'm pretty much with Kieran #12.

Footballers who flop after a huge transfer fee but then recover their best form or anything close following a move to a new club... rare as hen's teeth.

Brendan, he's a loan only. So only the wages to cover.

His wages would be equal to Harrison and Holgate last season if Man City cover 50%.

Ian, that is a good point about the wages.

Puts things in perspective a bit.

All I would say on wages is that we still have wages for new signings to cover.

Although I don't really get too involved in discussions over transfer fees, budget and wages, as that is down to the club and accountants to figure out, but I wouldn't want to do what Villa did with Rashford.

I said it elsewhere, but they allegedly paid 75% of his £300k a week wages for 10 games.

I wish we had a player who flopped like Grealish at Man City, didn’t he win a treble there?

Given the depths to which we've been sunk for decades, I think Grealish would be a very major risk for us.

He did well at Villa but his achievements and abilities are to me overly vaunted. He's good, but not great, and never has been.

His chances of getting another England cap are slim to nil when you look at his many, younger, very good competitors. His chances of getting another club who'll cough up enough to maintain his obscene salary, even with a 50% input from his current corrupt club, are also slim.

A club desperate to stay in the Premier League might splash out, but I hope a club envisioning a tilt at European competition would not massively spend nigh-on a wage fortune on a nigh-on 30-year-old with a history of getting well-pissed when it suits him.

We've had way too many such mega-rewarded shites, haven't we, Dunc?

Fair point, Ian #22.

If Grealish on loan is the best possible use of the Holgate and Harrison wages... so be it. I don't think it is, though, and I don't expect Everton to sign him cos hopefully we've better options.

But what the fuck do I know?

Don #26,

If he's going to be the talisman that Dunc was... sign him up.

Get him in!!!!!! Is he better than everyone else we have? Hell, yes! And he would really help to get people off their seats and bring some excitement. Imagine him and Ndiaye combining!

Paying 50% of his fees for a year would be the same as signing someone for nearly £8M. At that price, he's worth the gamble for one season.

I hope the ambition of the club is to land some quality, and aim for a cup or European place.

A player like Grealish adds to the capability that gets a team pushing through the Top 10 in my opinion.

Add in a Fofana, Douglas Luiz, a right-back, and another striker, and it's definitely looking upwards. The style of play would improve, and the job of selling Everton on and off the pitch gets easier.

Do I want to spend £50M on Grealish? No, I don't. I just want him to elevate us into a position where we can go for a better, younger, hungrier player in 12 to 24 months time. If it works out better, great. If it doesn't work out, he would be sent back.

We've cash, opportunity on the pitch, a good manager, a good crowd, and great facilities. This club is moving forward.

As a comparison, how much were we paying James Rodriguez? Creative player late in career who could definitely unlock a defence.

Yes, it was Ancelotti spending yet more of Moshiri's backer's dosh but, if Grealish could do the same, plus we give him back to Man City after a year, maybe two?

Paul #31

If Jack was James...

On loan - yes*
Loan to buy - No
At £40M + whatever outlandish wage he might think he can still get - fuck No!

* but only because it seems we might be struggling** to get a full squad and its a punt of the - Any port in a Storm - variety.

**you'll know it's bad if Harrison comes back.

We're done with overpaid 30-year-olds on 4-year contracts... or we should be.

Brendan (#28), "talisman" for precisely what?

Christ, even Ferguson himself now admits to having been a career-long shyster, as he grovels about looking for income from somewhere.

I know, Don #34,

Not saying he wasn't a shyster but a player nonetheless... Imagine Duncan if he could have been arsed!

One big Yes from me, but only on loan, not purchase.

He'd be our most talented player by far, bringing an even higher level of electricity than Ndiaye (who could easily slide into the middle behind Beto). Our biggest need isn't any particular position -- it's players who can score and make goals, and Grealish fits the description. Okay, he's not a right wing, but we'll get one of those. A Grealish, like a James Rodriguez, falls into our reach only once in a while.

And I think we'd be getting a highly motivated, almost desperate player. His only slim chance to make the England side for the World Cup is to do brilliant things between now and next May. It's his last opportunity to make something special out of his underperforming career. I believe he'll bust a lung for Moyes.

It's not as ridiculous as some of the aging superstars that we have signed previously. And to be perfectly honest, even then I enjoyed seeing Gazza, Ginola. Eto'o, Rooney 2.0 turn out for us.

We have had a fair number of loan signings who have made absolutely no impact in recent years. He might be past his best, but I could not see him adding to that particular list.

If it were the Jack Grealish of 5+ years ago then I'd say yes but as it's the version who's played barely any football last season so would take a while to get him fit, keeping him fit may be another thing entirely.

Given he loves a bevvie it's too big a risk for a player past his best.

I hope the club swerve him, even on a 50% wages deal the club would end up paying obscene wages which could well upset plenty of other players in the squad so how would that benefit the team.

Young, hungry, quick and skilful is the profile of player the club needs to add energy and pace to the team.

If the club get the young players that we are rumoured to be looking at blend these in with the old experienced heads we have (Tarks, Coleman, Pickford) and that could be a potent mix.

Ha ha Brendan #38

How often do we hear the plea on ToffeeWeb for our recruitment strategy to focus on young players with potential and sell on value?

Throw them a Grealish bone and they are like Pavlov's dogs.

Just the notion smacks of desperation to me Brendan.

It would have been a move the Mosh would have made and we all seen how that shitshow ended up.

I really like Grealish, and think he’d be an incredible signing.

He has a very good range of passing, he can carry the ball, he can beat players, and he has imagination. He was in the Guardiola straitjacket at City, and it didn’t suit him. He needs to be given freedom to express himself, and hopefully Moyes can offer him that here.

We have been crying out for players who can keep the ball, who can get us up the pitch, and who can do the mercurial. Grealish is such a player, and surely he’ll be desperate to be in the England squad for World Cup 2026. He needs to start games, and lots of them. He can do that with us.

Discussions on here quickly become overrun with the money side of things - wages, terms, transfer fees - but I think for all of us all that is just a Championship Manager distraction that makes us feel like we have some understanding of how a football club is run when in reality none of us really do. What we can speculate on with impunity is which players can improve the team, and I think Grealish can do that. And players like Fofana and Kubo carry a far greater risk for me at this stage, probably because I do not know them very well and always prefer to trust my own judgement than scouting reports and YouTube highlight reels - but I have watched 1000s of minutes of Grealish and, in the correct system, with the appropriate amount of give in his leash, he’s a fantastic footballer who can improve us. I don’t know who else we might be able to attract that I think could offer that level of improvement as quickly as he might - even if it is just for a season on loan. Hard hard yes.

Would be a very nice ‘cherry on the top’ if all the other necessary recruitment happens.

Brendan (38), your analogy doesn’t work if the dogs actually are getting the bone. Then they are just dogs and the reaction is perfectly normal.

Andrew #41

Discussing wages and/or discussing players we're rumoured to be after... it's all Championship Manager stuff.

Si #42

No-one knows if we're getting this particular bone though but many are just salivating when the "clickbait" bell rings.

I'll roll over and you can tickle my tummy if it comes to pass.

Fucking hell. Am I really reading some of this? Unreal.

‘Throw them a Grealish bone and they are like Pavlov's dogs.’

Incredible. He’d be the best player at the club by fucking miles. Also, the pavlovs dog reference sounds smart but doesn’t actually work or fit.

Just the notion smacks of desperation to me Brendan.

The desperation of signing someone who two seasons ago was a major force in a treble winning side. Could get Harrison back I suppose.

even on a 50% wages deal the club would end up paying obscene wages which could well upset plenty of other players in the squad so how would that benefit the team.

Yes. 100% let’s make sure our current squad who have won nothing in their careers don’t get upset if we show ambition and sign a player who has won ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. Who cares if it puts a few over paid noses out of joint?! It could also make them raise their games. Do city or Liverpool worry about what the squad think when they award big contracts? No, because they don't think like relegation clubs. Wake up.

He did well at Villa but his achievements and abilities are to me overly vaunted. He's good, but not great, and never has been.

I mean, this is incredible. He started virtually every game when they won the fucking treble. He pretty much got Villa promoted on his own as a young player and then stayed and was magnificent for them before signing for city and winning everything. The first season he didn’t start for city since signing they won nothing. Could be a coincidence. But yes. Over rated.

Let’s get lindstrom back.

The lack of ambition is astonishing. The shit we’ve been forced to eat has become steak to some people. We had Jack Harrison and lindstrom last season, we could have a slight chance of getting Grealish and already it’s a bad move for an over rated player. Nothing is over good enough. What player, if not grealish, do we think is good enough?

Ok now if you have that name ask this question- would he sign for perennial relegation strugglers?

No?

Ok so remind we why we shouldn’t sign Grealish (over rated too old etc…)

This is why we are fucking shit.

The good:- he is a very gifted player that rarely loses the ball.

The bad :- His form has been inconsistent over the last few years.

The ugly:- He is a well known party animal and we know what that does to professionals as they age.

Plus for me he is too similar to Ndiaye.

We need a mf general not a juggler.

Thanks Si #45

"The desperation of signing someone who two seasons ago was a major force in a treble winning side. "

I could not have made the point better.

Although Jay #46 just did.

All day! Get him and Ndiaye either side of Jamie Vardy please 🙏

Jay, too similar to Ndiaye is a bad thing? Ndiaye is our best dribbler, an outstanding passer, has pace and drive, and can blast a shot with either foot. And he terrifies defenders. They see him coming with the ball at his feet and backpedal like mad.

What about that would you NOT want to see in another Everton player?

I say the more similarity, the better.

My Leeds supporting mate was taking the piss out of me yesterday, relaying an Everton related article he apparently read recently headed

'Will the turd eventually flush'?
I guess it was on a Leeds site and talking about the promoted teams this year being way better than the last 2 seasons i.e. that's the only reason we stayed up. The quality of player we're linked with now, including Grealish should mean we'll be nowhere near the pan come the flushing time.

Paul, when you said Leeds mate I thought the turd was going to refer to Jack Harrison

Who died & left him a mate?

Moyes applying more pressure for signings, warning that "time is running out."

Just posted on The Athletic:

During a press conference in Chicago on Tuesday before their Premier League Summer Series game against West Ham, Moyes reiterated that Everton were “hoping to have done more business” by now and said “we’re just stalling a little bit in some departments.”

He said: “The truth is we are not getting them over the line at the moment, so that’s a fact. We’re not getting a lot of the deals done that we were hoping to do, we’re continually reassessing and moving on if things are not coming to fruition. So we will keep doing it and we’ll keep trying to get the best players as we can. We want to challenge ourselves to get good players if that is possible, and we’re trying to do that but we’re finding it quite difficult.”

Asked if he had been surprised by the setbacks, Moyes said: “My first thought was ‘yes, I was surprised’ because Everton is such a big club. Great traditions, what the club has stood for over the years, the new stadium is an exciting new move for us. But then you have another thought and you think again — ‘we have been around the relegation positions the last five years and not far off the bottom.’

“The fact of the matter is we’ve got to rebuild trust in people who should come to Everton and show that the club is going in the right direction and that we’ve got a new future. We’re all desperate to give the supporters something again. Let’s hope we can pull it together for them and get them a team to be proud of by the start of the season.”

Moyes continued: “The one thing I’ll do is tell Evertonians immediately when I can give them information. I’m telling them straight at the moment. We are having a bit of a struggle getting ones in quickly enough, but we’re trying to do players who could give us a chance of challenging to be one of those teams in Europe.”

Asked by The Athletic if the issue in getting players into the club is external or internal, he said: “We want to get it done. I don’t know if I can answer your question as clearly as that. We’re desperate to get everything moving on, we know that time’s running out, we’ve probably had five weeks, six weeks certainly, probably more since the end of last season. We got to start getting moving on because it will not be long till the window starts to get a bit closer to the end.”

He added: “Hopefully things will start to fall into the place. We are just beginning (to think) ‘my goodness we are just not getting enough over the line.’ We are actively working on it. It’s not like we are a club waiting to sell a player in order to bring ones in. We are actually in the market. I would like to say it’s a big pot of money because that would be great thing for Everton. But that is not really the situation. What we do have is money to spend but we have to spend it wisely.”

Moyes, who declined to comment on reported interest in Manchester City’s Jack Grealish, also urged caution about new full-back Aznou. He said: “This boy’s a young boy. Maybe not quite ready yet, but we hope he will be shortly. We see a lot of good things in him, technically very good, he is athletic. He might just need a little bit to get himself built up and ready for the Premier League so.

“We won’t be putting him under any pressure and we won’t be giving any guarantees to the supporters of seeing him right away.

“We will be observing him ourselves. We’ve heard lots of good things about him – what we’ve seen we liked.“

Emphasis for me is that the club IS telling us everything it can when the time is right.

If it's true that he likes a bevvy then I doubt Moyes will entertain him with the ghost of Shandy Andy looking over his shoulder.

Mike,
I know what you're saying and at a technical level you are right but its more about bringing some balance to the side.

I would sooner have a Declan Rice type than another Ndiaye if you get my drift.

It is strange how we as a fan base have become so suspicious of gifted players like Grealish. What happened to “we all agree, Duncan McKenzie is magic”?

We had the same comments when James Rodriguez signed (the only top quality player at the club since Kanchelskis).

Medium/low ability + sweaty application x weepy nostalgia = success.

Hasn’t worked for 30 years but you never know!

Nice rant Si @45!! Compliment by the way!!

Looks like there are going to burst a few blood vessels over this rumour as it runs it's potential course.

I've mentioned earlier, that wages could be a stumbling block. But we supporters shouldn't fret over that. The alleged interested clubs would decide if they can afford it, not us, so no point fretting over it. Moshiri is gone and I think our current bean-counters are a bit more astute.

On the player, he is without doubt very talented and needs to get his career back on track, in what could be his last major move, and maybe somewhere like Everton could provide him the platform to do that.

He was the big fish at Villa and worshipped by their supporters. It started well for him at City, before he became immersed amongst a huge squad of some of the best talent in global football, so didn't feature as regularly as he would have wanted to.

As well as the Everton and West Ham links, I did think about the possibility of a return to Villa. His boyhood club and they can offer European football. But given their constraints, finance would possibly come into the equation. Already fined and walking a think line with rumours they may have to sell another key player.

If there is anything in this, I'd be glad if he signed, but until that happens, it is in the rumour pile, so I won't lose any sleep.

My worry is that we will keep trying to get both Grealish and Luiz and fail on both right at the very end, a bit like the Kurt Zouma deal.

Big, shiny new stadium or not, we are not an attractive proposition to top of the line players. Thirty years of winning nothing. Five years of relegation battles, mismanagement, merry go round of managers, points deductions, attempted murder, public displays of fan anger etc…players and agents will take that into account.

The only solution, in my view, is you have to pay exorbitant fees and wages if you want to get the players you NEED. Notts Forrest, Man City (pre-arab takeover), Newcastle etc… have done it before and are now reaping the rewards. Speculate to accumulate.

There’s no one out there dying to play for Everton. If you have the money, use it. If not, accept more bottom half finishes and the occasional relegation struggle.

I don’t think anyone on here is dead set against Grealish as a player. Everyone recognizes that he’s a step up. I think those saying don’t worry about the money or it’s not our concern are wide of the mark given how such a philosophy from Moshiri almost took us down. Hopefully the new regime know what they’re doing but we can’t be sure.

For me it’s more about the opportunity cost. Would I like to see Grealish in the team? Yes. Would I like to see Grealish in the team if it means Fofana and/or Assane Diao going to one of our rivals instead of us? No.

Difficult to know all the financial permutations of course and maybe we can have our cake and eat it. Grealish on loan with no obligation sounds like a good idea but I’m not sure that’s what city want and they may well insist on an obligation to buy around £35/40m.

Jay #55, I'd just like to see us get the best players we can. I'll leave it to Moyes to figure out how to "balance" everything.

I thought we were supposed to be done signing failed entities from other clubs?

I appreciate what you're saying Sam. The financial side will likely be something we disagree on, but that's fine with me and I respect yours and others' stand point on that.

I think a lot of us are scarred by the Moshiri recklessness era that nearly saw us drop into the abyss.

But, as I said above, I think I've got more confidence in this still relatively new regime.

I appreciate it's hard to forget the depths we sunk to. We all lived every minute of it. And the steady decline goes back way longer than that.

As a support base that has been hurt, we are like a heard of Elephants that can't forget. And we won't, so I get the caution.

I feel optimistic about what lies ahead. I know I always come across that way, but this is different.

There is concern, there is impatience and understandably so. If the owners, the Board and the Manager don't get it right, we'll soon let them know.

Apologies for the rant Danny!! I may or may not have had a few beers last night.

But….

Andrew what ‘failed entity’ are we being linked with?

The one with three league titles in the last four years? A fa cup, league cup, club World Cup and champions league?

I think the batteries in your faliure-ometer may need replacing.

Andrew (61) - I think a "failed entity" from a squad like Man City's is a somewhat different proposition from a failed entity from, say, Southampton (or even Everton for that matter).

Can he play right back, right mid and is he fast. If any of the above is no then we should move on.

The new owners have to cut their cloth and bring in players they are willing to pay the money for. This transfer window isn't looking good for them or us.

We can't start the season without a right side to the pitch.

Andrew @61,

If (still a big if) this happened, it's not like we'd be signing David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne or a washed up Wayne Rooney. No way should Rooney's legs have been gone at 31, but it was clear they were.

Grealish is a bit different. Probably still in his prime for the next few seasons, and he has been far from a failure at City.

We'll see how this one plays out. Right now, I'm keeping more of an eye on the potential signing of Fofana, which still seems to be a possibility, as much as any transfer can be.

It’s a lot different to the James Rodriguez signing. Rodriguez was finished physically for club football of any standard. It wasn’t an ambitious signing it was a vanity signing / pretending to be ambitious when the game was already up (albeit with some brief artistic cameos).

Grealish is now best his exceptional best - but he’s nothing like broken.

Personally I think TFG have their heads screwed on and will not saddle the club with stupid financial liabilities.

If we get him it will be because the finances make sense. If we don’t it might be because West Ham are run by idiots and do a daft financial deal. And Grealish may prefer London of course too.

Hutchinson and Dibling are probably much better long term signings but in truth there’s no crystal ball with them either.

Steve,
I agree with most of your sentiments apart from the fact that it’s a different world now and top players are very very wealthy.
For all their professionalism I just don’t think they have the same motivation at 29 as a young up and coming player has.
Also ask yourself why are City selling Grealish?

I agree with Robert (67) Grealish is not finished but how much of the player he was is left in him, I think he is too much of a financial risk for Everton to take a chance on him, I hope the club make the right decision.

Mike #53

That is classic Moyes. Lower expectations and then say, in not so many words, its not his fault and he's doing the best he can. I'm not sure his comment will attract players and I think he should keep his mouth shut in public. If he has an issue with his employers, keep it behind closed doors.

I'm sick of this transfer window when we thought there was some optimism to be had. But then why would we be attractive? Only the new stadium. We haven't got an Ancelotti, we haven't got European football and we can't give huge wages due to PSR.

So YES sign Grealish. Not only would he be better than anything we have, he'd bring experience of winning and might make others think about signing on too.

These comments from Moyes are very worrying on a number of levels. It's hard not to read things into them.

Have we done a thorough check of Kev Thelwell's desk? He didn't forget to take that little black notebook with him, did he?

Stu, Moyesy has history of quelling expectations ie “40 points, knife to a gunfight, we are trying 24/7” etc… it’s just his personality, like Fraser from Dad’s Army.

I think he can smell the coffee so this could be a preemptive strike to cover himself. It’s up to TFG to either put up or shut up. Either way Moyes wins.