From Dycheball to Dynamism — Grealish Adds 'X' Factor to Everton's New-Look Attacking Unit

“Let’s have some fun, Toffees!”

Perhaps it was born of an acknowledgment of the Blues’ well-documented struggles in recent seasons or maybe it was simply reflective of what appears to be his refreshingly positive overall demeanour, but with those five words at the end of his first Instagram post as an Everton player, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall encapsulated the fervent wishes of every Evertonian: please, let it be fun to watch this team again.

The signs are very good on that front now that the club’s summer transfer business is approaching critical mass, adding some exciting new players to the green shoots of revival represented last season by the mesmerising ability of Iliman Ndiaye and the return as manager of David Moyes.

Ndiaye was rightly lauded last term for being the kind of silky-skilled, bums-off-seats player that Blues fans have for so long been denied. The likes of Gerard Deulofeu and James Rodriguez were ephemeral presences that reignited the collective imaginations and quickened the pulses of the fans but recent seasons have seen a drain of attacking talent play out at Everton as enforced austerity has bit hard.

James was an exercise in largesse to begin with, so keeping him around once Carlo Ancelotti had jumped ship would have far been more expensive than was prudent and his sale in 2021 was expected; Gylfi Sigurdsson departed for altogether different reasons; Demarai Gray, erratic at the best of times, clashed with Sean Dyche and was also moved on; while Richarlison was sacrificed to meet the demands of PSR compliance.

Now, with the arrival of the ambitious Friedkin Group and their takeover, that has restructured the club’s debt and ushered in new commercial deals coincided perfectly with the loosening of the shackles imposed by the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability rules, a summer transfer spend of over £80m to date has been ushered in.

In Thierno Barry, the Toffees have a raw but exciting, up-and-coming French striker who bagged 11 goals in his first year in La Liga with Villarreal. Adam Aznou brings more youth, untapped potential and competition to the left-back slot while Mark Travers, a well-regarded goalkeeper from his days at Bournemouth, has been signed to push Jordan Pickford.

For Dewsbury-Hall, it’s the chance to fulfil the expectations heightened by his move to Chelsea last year, a switch that pitched him into arguably the biggest first-team squad in the Premier League where his primary competition for a midfield berth included two players signed for more than £100m. It was always going to be an uphill battle, but while the former Leicester man can boast Europa Conference League and FIFA World Club Cup medals, he was surely frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t hold down a regular role in the Premier League. Chelsea’s over-spending has been Everton’s gain and on first glance during the friendly against Roma, he has the makings of an excellent signing.

Then, before you get to the possibility of one more dynamic addiiton to come on the right wing, there is Jack Grealish, the Blues’ loan acquisition from Manchester City that adds a healthy dollop of genuine star quality to the side that Moyes and the recruitment team have been assembling over the course of the close season.

Once the extent of his talent was revealed during his time at boyhood club, Aston Villa, his destiny lay at one of the so-called “big six” clubs; players of his ilk don’t end up at teams of Everton’s current standing in the game, not perhaps, until they’re truly washed up at the end of their careers. Again, that one of those big-spending teams has assets like Grealish as surplus to their requirements has been to the Toffees’ benefit, although, due to his exorbitant value, he has only been signed on a temporary basis.

Admittedly, this is an expensive deal for a player who will conceivably only be at the club for nine months and the sensible part of you looks at James McAtee‘s potential switch to Nottingham Forest, for example, and wonder if the Grealish deal might, in hindsight, come to be viewed on some levels as a shortsighted one.

But TFG have clearly seen what this loan transfer could mean not only in terms of an immediate boost to fortunes on the pitch but to Everton’s current and future profile as well – and it is potentially huge. Jack Grealish, either the most expensive English player in history or a close second to Declan Rice, depending on how you calculate the performance-related add-ons, and a bona fide Premier league star, has chosen to sign for Everton. That in itself is important and can be a potential draw for other future signings.

At Hill Dickinson Stadium, he won’t just be another cog in the rigid Pep Guardiola machine. He will unquestionably have his defensive responsibilities but, going forward, he will have the freedom to roam and a license to thrill. And if he is able to recreate the form at Villa that made him a breakout star or that which helped City to a historic treble two years ago, he will be a thrilling addition to a team that has lacked genuine creativity for years, throwing another unpredictable presence into the side alongside Ndiaye (not to mention ensuring some continuity when Iliman goes to the Africa Cup of Nations in January), giving opponents plenty to think about and negating the tactic of smothering the Senegalese as the only creative spark in the side. 

And Evertonians will love him. They had already taken to the idea of signing one of the game’s true characters the moment it was floated as a possibility back in May and they will embrace his brand of maverick, handbrake-off football. A rare breed of footballer who plays the game with a smile on his face, Grealish is the epitome of the kind of fun to which his new midfield team-mate, Dewsbury-Hall, was alluding in the afore-mentioned quote.

Of course, it is an “if”. There is no guarantee that the competitive fire still burns hot in his belly and Evertonians saw their share of fading talents come and go and flatter to deceive at Goodison Park down the years. The likes of David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Samuel Eto’o and Rodriguez all graced the Old Lady’s hallowed turf on the downslope of their illustrious careers with middling success.

However, Grealish, who only turns 30 next month, should be at the very peak of his powers. In an 11-year top-flight career, he has played fewer than 300 Premier League matches — that is comparatively fewer “miles on the clock” than many players of the same age. And his determination to fight his way back into the England reckoning for next summer’s World Cup should provide him with plenty of fuel for that proverbial fire.

“I want to have that way about me like I was before," he said in his first interview for evertontv. "I want to have no fear!” That should be music to Evertonian ears.

If he does everything right, he will give Everton’s owners a £50m headache to deal with at the end of this season. Because an on-form Grealish, coupled with the necessary additions to fill out the squad before the transfer deadline, could be the difference between mid-table mediocrity in 2025/26 and a possible tilt at European qualification. If he is able to drag the team three or four places higher than they might otherwise have finished, he would come close to repaying what it will cost to loan him from City for the season.

What happens then is a question to be dealt with then but as Everton fans look ahead to a first campaign in their new home after a miserable last few years, Grealish and company offer real grounds for optimism… or at the very least, the prospect of a few months of fun watching Ndiaye, Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall (dubbed "The Holy Shinnity" by a wag on Twitter/X) with their low-slung socks weaving their way through opposition defences on what we hope will be a weekly basis.

How different does that feel from this time last year?

Read next:

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