A New Stadium Signing

I've been thinking today about why Everton have pursued what may appear to be an expensive loan signing like Jack Grealish. The signing involves a large loan fee, part payment of a very high weekly wage, and a huge potential permanent fee for a player that will turn thirty when we pay it. It all seems very risky financially for a club that was scrapping by in recent seasons and was struggling against psf rules and constraints. 

Some have pointed out that if Grealish plays to the best of his abilities,  he will push the team several places up the end of season table. Given the payment for each league place, Grealish could earn the club an extra £12–£15m by himself. An increase in merchandise sales has also been mentioned as a way in which he will pay for himself. (Although I have it in my head that shirt sales aren't the money spinner you'd think with a lot of the profits going back to the company who makes the shirt.) 

For me, I think the main reason Grealish has been signed is the timing of it. We have just moved into a new stadium with which our fans have no real affliation with yet. There's no emotive or sentimental feel to going to home games yet. I think the club needed something to get the fans excited, to get bums up off seats, to generate an atmosphere. Getting a star player in like Grealish, for me, is that something. He's the x factor that will.help fans gel with thei new stadium.

This will also in my mind apply to the players, existing and new. If Jack Grealish can get the team playing to a quality that is greater than the sum.of it's part, this will.help the team to identify with a new home stadium. 

The players and the fans, all going well, would feed off each other around this marquee signing, and the new stadium really will become ours, not just physically but emotionally. 

It is all a long shot, and Jack Grealish could turn out to be an expensive flop over the course of one season. The safety net would be he returns to his home club at the end of the season. For me, I think he is worth the risk, at least for one season, given the potential reward.