Everton land Tyrique George on loan on deadline day
Everton have completed what was their only incoming January transfer at the very end of the window, adding Chelsea academy product Tyrique George on loan for the remainder of the season.
The 19-year-old completed a successful medical this afternoon but his signing wasn’t announced until well after the 7pm deadline had elapsed.
The potential sale of Dwight McNeil to Crystal Palace for a reported £20m did not get over the line, however, with reports coming in just after 9pm that his switch to Selhurst Park was off, reputedly because the Eagles leadership failed to submit the required paperwork in time.
With Grealish almost certainly ruled out for the remainder of the season and Tyler Dibling still peripheral to David Moyes's thinking when it comes to naming his starting XI, the Blues had been on the lookout for options to bolster their attacking options in the wide areas.
They identified in George a target ahead of the transfer deadline with The Athletic reporting yesterday that a deal had been reached that includes an option to buy the winger at the end of the season amid suggestions new Chelsea manager, Liam Rosenior, didn't see an immediate future for him in West London.
"The fans here are exceptional. I know Evertonians are really passionate. They like hard work – and that’s what I’m going to show. I want to be exciting and I want to impress them.
"The gaffer, David Moyes, was another reason [I wanted to join]. He’s an amazing manager who has coached so many players, like Wayne Rooney, and players like that. I've had a brief conversation with him and he's an amazing person as well.
"I just want to enjoy it, learn under him and improve."
20 on Wednesday, George has been trying to break into the senior team at Stamford Bridge this season but his prospects of that appeared stronger under former boss, Enzo Maresca, who handed him four appearances in the Premier League and another six in the Champions League.
He also scored a couple of goals in the Carabao Cup to help Chelsea reach the last four where they trail Arsenal 3-2 from the first leg of the semi-finals but he hasn't been included in a first team squad since mid-December.
George was closely tracked by Everton's sister club Roma and then came close to securing a £22m move to Fulham last summer but the deal collapsed on deadline day, a turn of events that might have soured his opinion of the Cottagers who remain in the market for reinforcements this month having finished the 2025 close season window with unfinished business.
Voted Chelsea's academy player of 2025, George is a pacy, trickywinger with precocious spatial awareness, an abioity to play on either flank and a penchant for taking defenders on. As such, he would add some much-needed qualities to Everton's team.
He had other suitors this month, among them Portuguese giants Benfica, but it was Everton who secured his services on loan. He will wear the No 19 shirt last worn by Vitalii Mykolenko last season.
Meanwhile, Everton's own academy graduates, Martin Sherif and Eli Campbell, both secured loan moves to Port Vale. Jack Patterson joins LKS Lodz in Poland until the end of the season after George Morgan had secured a temporary switch to TFG-owned AS Cannes.
Last updated 11:30pm, Mon 2 February, 2026
Reader Responses
Selected thoughts from readers02/02/2026 10:14:28
According to the BBC site, we’ve been enquiring about Harry Wilson, who’s out of contract at Fulham in the summer, and is yet to sign a new one.Fulham are said to have rebuffed Everton’s approach, and are very keen for Wilson to stay.Anyone got any thoughts on this?
02/02/2026 11:09:45
David, if we could bring in Wilson and offload McNeil I think it would be good business. Be interesting to see how much game time Tyrique George and Tyler Dibbling would get though ahead of Wilson and N'Diaye.
02/02/2026 13:11:24
That’s a good shout Andrew.McNeil being linked with possible move to Forest allegedly, but will only happen if we bring in a replacement say Sky.
02/02/2026 16:45:34
This is not one of our top priorities. TFG have again failed to address our glaring needs. Full backs and a striker. Another young winger. Great. It's down the list and how many minutes will he get?
02/02/2026 17:04:39
Have any deals gone through anywhere yet today?
02/02/2026 17:34:42
Kierin, "what would we expect for Armstrong?"
This is Everton you're talking about, so probably about £2m as opposed to £20 million if he played for the RS reserves.
02/02/2026 17:54:03
Andrew, I don't understand why this George deal has not been officially announced with a tad more than an hour left. I thought that the work had already been done yesterday.
02/02/2026 18:16:17
Paul, Sky reported medical complete about 20 minutes ago so it's not there yet.
02/02/2026 18:23:50
Paul (8) These days the official announcement is always delayed while the player is processed through the promotional guff; photos, interviews, etc.
02/02/2026 19:00:45
Cheers fellas.
02/02/2026 19:02:15
Sky saying we've accepted the £20m for McNeil
02/02/2026 19:16:46
I don't get that John if nobody is coming the other way. To lose Grealish and McNeil and just bring in a 19 year old however good he looks is insane for a squad that was already on the bones of it's arse.
02/02/2026 20:31:56
Sounds like a good day at the Office to me young George on loan with an option to buy, sounds good as long as Moyes picks him to play. As for McNeil, if he goes I would wish him well, he scored some good goals for us under Dyche but has proved ineffective under Moyes, who failed to recognise that his best and perhaps only position was wide on the left.
02/02/2026 21:31:23
Pace and creativity, exactly what we’ve been crying out for.
02/02/2026 22:32:44
Good signing this is, he looks like he’s more ready than Dibling and a lot more confident and expressive.
Dibling needs time to settle, everyone is different.
We don’t need Harry Wilson now we have George who has bucket loads of potential, plus Wilson’s 29 next month. Shame we couldn’t get McNeil off the books 20mil would have been fantastic. Moyes better play George straight away.
03/02/2026 06:28:41
Ooh I cannot wait for the armchair super scouts to tell us why he is a shit waste of money and will never be good enough having seen him warm up for the first time!
03/02/2026 09:12:51
Didn’t know a lot about him, but sounds like potentially an exciting acquisition with pace.
Still crying out for full backs and central strikers, but pointless getting them in January, as it often means overpaying for below par players.
Have to carry on with square pegs, and make the best of it.
03/02/2026 09:56:12
I like Grealish, hes a top player but hes not what we should be building on. This is the type of transfer we need to be making.
03/02/2026 10:16:03
Love Grealish, but looking forward to the pace, trickery and sheer chaos on the break down the left from now on. Great to see us picking up promising academy graduates -Chelsea’s academy is superb. Makes a change from washed-up Man U players looking for a payday.
Dunno what’s he’s like tracking back and defending, mind you.
03/02/2026 13:08:35
Chelsea supporting friend of mine says he's fast, direct with an eye for goal. Can't get into their team ahead of the £100m purchases. Good signing for me.
04/02/2026 06:31:20
This is a good loan move in line with Everton's transfer policy.
04/02/2026 23:05:28
From the Finch Farm, training clips, and a few old guard Chelsea fans,insight, hec looks promising and imho a natural footballer.
Lets hope, Tyrique, can forfill his potential on loan at Everton.
Good business, Everton.
05/02/2026 12:27:27
Yes, potentially very good business for us.
Even training with wide players of the calibre of Ndiaye & Grealish, vastly different but both highly effective, will accelerate his learning curve.
He needs, as all youngsters do to have the right attitude.
This not a given, especially for those who have come through the ranks of the big London clubs.
They often have over inflated egos (in my humble...)
I had hoped the same for Dibling but so far he seems overawed rather than inspired.
Watch this (wide) space.
06/02/2026 09:09:31
Down Bramley Moore Dock they’re sure to flock,
To see two young wingers run amok.
Down the flanks with fire in their belly,
On the river banks, giving it some welly.
Tyrique one side, Tyler the other,
Full-back’s in bits, skinned by another.
Pace in spades, they twist and turn,
Put them on their arse, with grass burn.
Crowd on their feet, they pick up the ball,
Ty’s torn him a new one, that’ll be all.
Sent for a pie, Ty waves them bye bye,
Watch these boys fly, under the Mersey sky.
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01/02/2026 05:59:30
Yep, the type of signing we should be making. Rotate Dibling, Armstrong and George for the rest of the season. Give each of them as much game time as possible. Once Chelsea don't price George out of a permanent deal, sign him in the summer and give him a pre-season on top of the loan spell.
We will need to ensure that we do have enough senior pros in midfield to accommodate Armstrong, Tim, Dibling and George. I think that repurposing the money that would have been spent on Grealish is the way to go.
I think £22m isn't a huge sum for his potential. Whatever game time he gets over the course of this season may see this sum rise but that is the going rate nowadays. What would we expect for Armstrong?