Everton's Grealish Reunion Masks Another Failed Striker Hunt

Everton have completed a second season-long loan for Jack Grealish from Manchester City, but their attempt to land Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee before the transfer deadline collapsed, leaving David Moyes still short of a reliable frontman as confirmed by BBC Sport.

The deal reunites Grealish with Goodison Park just eight months after a foot injury ended his breakout loan spell in January. Zirkzee's decision to stay at Old Trafford means Everton's striker search has now misfired on three separate targets during a single window.

Grealish Returns: Why Everton Went Back for a Proven Fan Favourite

A Player Reborn on Merseyside

The case for re-signing Grealish writes itself on last season's numbers. During his first loan at Everton he made 20 appearances, scored twice and provided six assists, form good enough to win the Premier League Player of the Month award for August before a season-ending foot injury in January cut the spell short according to BBC Sport.

• 20 appearances in 2025-26 before injury
• 2 goals and 6 assists
• Premier League Player of the Month, August 2025
• Season ended by a foot injury in January 2026

Grealish, 30, was also linked with a move back to boyhood club Aston Villa this summer, but chose Everton instead. He explained the pull of Merseyside in his own words.

"I think I'm at my best at everything in life, not just football, when I feel loved. That's what the manager has given me, what my teammates have given me and especially what the fans have given me."

He added that the reception from supporters since his first appearance against Leeds had left a lasting impression per BBC Sport's report.

City's Calculus After the Enzo Fernandez Splash

Grealish joined City from Villa for £100m in August 2021, but he has become increasingly peripheral at the Etihad. He returned from injury during City's Community Shield defeat by Arsenal on 16 August and featured in the opening league win over Bournemouth, yet his squad status has only weakened since BBC Sport notes.

City's willingness to loan him out for a second successive season looks easier to explain once their summer spending is factored in. Enzo Maresca's side signed Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea for £125m, a fee that makes him the joint most expensive player in British football history, further crowding City's attacking midfield options as reported by talkSPORT. With that kind of outlay in midfield areas, releasing Grealish on loan for a second year running carries little risk for City and gives him the regular football his City career currently cannot.

The Striker Search That Got Away: Abraham, Zirkzee and the Balogun Scramble

Beto's Exit Started the Scramble

Everton's need for a new centre-forward became urgent once Guinea-Bissau striker Beto completed a permanent move to Serie A club Fiorentina. That sale pushed Zirkzee onto Everton's radar as a late target, but it also exposed how thin the club's forward options had become before deadline day even arrived BBC Sport's coverage confirms.

Everton's first choice, Tammy Abraham, had already opted to stay at Aston Villa, forcing Moyes and his recruitment team to pivot more than once during the closing weeks of the window.

Zirkzee Stays Put, Balogun Deal Stuck in Medical Limbo

The 25-year-old Netherlands international ultimately stayed at Old Trafford despite Everton's interest, a fact confirmed across the day's reporting. Attention had already turned to Monaco's Folarin Balogun, with a £40m fee agreed between the clubs, but a medical issue involving the USA international was unresolved on deadline day itself per BBC Sport.

An earlier BBC report on the same day had described the Grealish move as "agreed" with a medical pending, before a follow-up confirmed the loan had gone through, illustrating how quickly Everton's deadline day moved on one front while stalling on another according to a separate BBC Sport update. The two accounts do not conflict, they simply capture different stages of the same fast-moving evening, but the contrast with the stalled Balogun paperwork is stark. Everton were still hopeful of completing the Balogun deal before the 23:00 BST deadline, but no confirmation of a resolved medical had emerged by the time the window closed.

Everton's Deadline Day in Full: Ins, Outs and What It Means for Moyes

The Ins and Outs

Beyond the Grealish reunion, Everton made two further moves before the deadline. Here is the full picture of the day's business.

• In: Jack Grealish, season-long loan from Manchester City
• In: Ainsley Maitland-Niles, £3m from Lyon, can play full-back or midfield
• Out: Nathan Patterson, permanent move to Torino after 68 appearances since January 2022
• Pending: Folarin Balogun, £40m fee agreed with Monaco, medical unresolved

Maitland-Niles, 29, has five England caps and gives Moyes added versatility across midfield and defence, while Patterson's exit closes a four-year spell that began with his move from Rangers per BBC Sport's summary of the day.

Building a Top-Half Campaign Around a No.10

The uncomfortable question for Everton is whether a squad that identified a centre-forward as its number one priority, first chasing Abraham, then Zirkzee, then agreeing terms for Balogun, can still make progress this season if that priority ultimately goes unmet. Grealish is an excellent creative addition and a legitimate fan favourite after his award-winning first spell, but he is not a striker. Everton's headline deadline day arrival, in other words, was not the one they set out to make when the window opened.

Moyes now has a proven creator returning to fitness and form, but his attack still lacks a confirmed focal point unless the Balogun deal is revived and finalised in the days ahead.

What happens next

Grealish is expected to undergo a medical before the loan is formally registered, and he will be assessed for match fitness given the eight months he has spent recovering from his foot injury. His return gives Everton a creative spark from the opening weeks of the season, assuming he can rediscover the form that earned him the Player of the Month award last August.

The bigger storyline, though, is Balogun. With the £40m fee already agreed with Monaco, Everton's ability to resolve the medical issue in the coming days will determine whether Moyes ends up with the striker his squad has needed all summer, or whether the club's headline deadline day business turns out to be a reunion rather than a genuine fix for its goalscoring problem.