How do Everton cope without Jack Grealish?

Forty-eight hours is a long time in football. When it comes to Everton, 48 hours may as well be several weeks.

Just two days on from celebrating a fantastic, hard-earned win at Aston Villa, Everton fans were brought back down to reality with crushing force.

The official club posted on social media accounts on Tuesday to confirm that Jack Grealish had sustained a foot injury, and all hell broke loose.

Even before the extent of Grealish’s injury had been leaked, some Evertonians insisted that the loan move from Manchester City must be terminated, or that the Toffees must immediately switch their plans for the January transfer window from focusing on the full-back and forward areas to instead getting in a winger.

Not that those viewpoints don’t have some merit. But — at least for the next couple of days — it is unfortunately just a waiting game. The club have to determine the extent of Grealish’s injury and, once that is known, they have to act, one way or another.

The ever-reliable David Ornstein reported on Tuesday evening that Grealish had sustained a stress fracture. A quick bit of research suggests that two to three months is the standard lay-off for such an injury, but once again, we will only know for sure once the scans take place.

For Everton to get ahead of any speculation and confirm an injury has been sustained in the first place does suggest that it is going to be serious, so as fans, it’s probably fair to strap in and expect the worst, and hope for the best.

The best-case scenario is probably that Grealish will be back in April. The worst-case scenario is he’s out for the season. Either way, David Moyes is going to have to find a solution.

Thankfully, Grealish’s injury is at least coinciding with the return of Iliman Ndiaye from the Africa Cup of Nations, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is also due back soon. That gives Moyes options, at least.

It is frustrating, of course, that just as Everton get their other best players back, their chief creator is now facing a long spell out of action. Another cruel blow in a season that still harbours plenty of promise.

If Everton are to go into the transfer market to sign a wide player, then they must ensure that wide player brings pace and versatility and, crucially, is ready to hit the ground running. There is little point in signing a winger in the 19 to 22 age bracket who will not play or needs to earn Moyes’s trust. That is the exact position that Tyler Dibling finds himself in.

In theory, this could be Dibling’s chance. Ndiaye could move back over to the left flank, where he played last season, and Dibling would naturally come in on the right wing. However, as we have seen over the last month or so, Dibling does not yet have Moyes’s trust, with Dwight McNeil, who is largely ineffective on the right, preferred.

The feeling, then, would be that McNeil moves over to the left, with Ndiaye on the right, and Dibling playing second-fiddle.

Carlos Alcaraz could also come into the equation. Having been out with a hamstring injury, Alcaraz is best as a Number 10, but Everton are arguably better playing a flat three in midfield.

Moyes, rightly or wrongly, also doesn’t seem to fully trust Alcaraz, and with Harrison Armstrong having made such a positive impact since his return from Preston North End, could the Argentine instead be deployed on the left?

Whatever the extent of Grealish’s injury, there is no doubt he will be a huge miss and, if he is indeed out for the season, then — as it always seems to be for Evertonians — it will represent another harsh dose of reality.

Even in that case, this loan move has been no failure. In his 20 Premier League matches for the Toffees, Grealish has scored two winning goals and provided six assists. He ranks third in the competition for chances created from open play.

Hopefully, we get to see him pull on a royal blue shirt again before the season is out. If not, then it will be up to the club as to whether they pull the trigger on bringing the 30-year-old back for another go-around next term.

For now, the onus will fall on Moyes to find a solution, and if Everton do want to be ambitious, then they should at the very least be keeping a close eye on opportunities that may present themselves in the final week of the transfer window.

 

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