There are some who will only ever view Jack Grealish through the prism of the parties.
The individual sprawled on a Tenerife street in the vicinity of a fag packet. The player dropped from the team after a boozy night at Manchester’s Panacea nightclub. The life and soul of Manchester City’s Treble celebrations in Ibiza.
The Grealish remembered by some at Aston Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground – where he’d be found working with his personal strength and conditioning coach until 7pm on many a night – is not widely appreciated. That’s unfair.
In the buttoned-up contemporary football world, we really need some of his non-conformity and personality. If only we could also find the footballer who, as one Villa source put it to me a year or so back, has been ‘lost down the back of the sofa’ at City.
The notion of Everton being a staging post in the arc of his career would have been pure delusion in the summer, four years back, when he became the first £100million English footballer.
In the season he arrived at City on a salary now approaching £360,000 a week, the then chaotic Goodison club were taking Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli on loan. Yet a conversation with Liam Delap would tell Grealish something about the way that particular landscape has altered.
If only we could also find the Jack Grealish who, as one Aston Villa source put it to me a year or so back, has been ‘lost down the back of the sofa’ at Manchester City
There are some who will only ever view Grealish through the prism of the parties
The notion of Everton being a staging post in the arc of his career would have been pure delusion in the summer, four years back, when he became the first £100m English footballer
When Everton came in for Delap earlier this month, the 22-year-old striker only spoke to them out of professional courtesy, yet David Moyes’ words stopped him in his tracks and gave him pause for thought before, inevitably, he opted for Chelsea.
Moyes’ pitch went along the lines of: ‘You’ll take the No 9 jersey to a new stadium, for our new era. There is resource and ambition here. What better prospect than to lead our historic club into a new dawn?’
It was the way Moyes framed Everton’s next chapter, in the context of their spectacular new riverside stadium, which resonated. There’s certainly something of the statesman in Moyes, back at his spiritual home. It’s easy to see him making an impression like that.
It would be the same pitch to Grealish, a player Everton want. And that, according to some on the inside, is one of a number of reasons why Grealish to Everton could actually happen.
Though the player’s most obvious next move would be back to Villa, he’s been there, done that, and there are no guarantees. Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn and Morgan Rogers are all more compelling choices in Villa’s attacking midfield spots than Grealish, these days.
What he now needs is a club where he is the creative nexus, the beating heart, appreciated for the idiosyncratic talents he possessed before they were crushed out of him by Pep Guardiola’s machine. Somewhere to find ‘minutes, minutes, minutes’ of football, as Thomas Tuchel said of him last week, and thus feature in England’s World Cup campaign next summer.
He could also sorely use a British manager like Moyes who, while uncompromising, is more tolerant of the unconventional these days and would be a motivator, guiding influence, wise counsel – viewing Grealish as an individual, not a cog in a system.
Where Grealish is concerned, Moyes will be thinking about the dressing room and his wish to inject colour and personality there – qualities to which he has always ascribed much significance.
He could also sorely use a British manager like Moyes who is more tolerant of the unconventional these days and would be a motivator, guiding influence, wise counsel
Where Grealish is concerned, Moyes will be thinking about the dressing room and his wish to inject colour and personality there
Everton can be somewhere to find ‘minutes, minutes, minutes’ of football, as Thomas Tuchel said of him last week, and thus feature in England’s World Cup campaign next summer
He’s just lost one of the biggest voices, in Ashley Young. Here is someone to bring spark, to go with the leadership provided by Seamus Coleman, James Tarkowski and, to an extent, Jordan Pickford.
Moyes also sees the need for some stardust at Everton, to go with the proletarian work ethic which has always been fundamental to his teams. Grealish’s game would fit Moyes’ almost old-fashioned appreciation of wingers, who take defenders on and cross the ball for forwards. There’s much to sell to him.
That City salary is the millstone, of course: a figure way beyond the sum Everton pay their top earner, Pickford, and Everton have PSR considerations, too. This would be a loan deal, with City subsidising the wages.
Moyes can point to a very good track record in the loan market, first time round at Everton, in Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar and Landon Donovan. The former two made their moves permanent and became Goodison Park heroes.
Other clubs are interested in Grealish. Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli. Saudi Arabia, inevitably, could find those wages.
Much rests on how Grealish, who turns 30 in September, wants to be remembered. If he disappears abroad, he will have been the talented maverick – akin, in the eyes of older generations, to Rodney Marsh, Alan Hudson and Stan Bowles.
If he stays in the Premier League, there is still time to reach new heights of performance and be recalled to mind as a great player his own right.
The questions he must ask himself are: ‘Is that it, then? Is that as good as it gets?’ Only he knows.
Moyes can point to his excellent track record in the loan market at Everton – take Mikel Arteta, who arrived on a temporary deal and then stayed for five and a half years
Much rests on how Grealish wants to be remembered. If he disappears abroad, he will have been the talented maverick – akin, in the eyes of older generations, to Rodney Marsh
Wrexham recruitment is not healthy
Onwards and upwards for my team, Wrexham, who are interested in buying Ben Davies and Danny Ings, both 32, and Aaron Cresswell, 35.
Another bunch of old hired guns, recruited for promotion. As I’ve said here before, this is less a football team than an assorted collection of players.
It doesn’t feel healthy and it’s not hugely appealing.
Are Aaron Cresswell (centre) and Danny Ings (right) really who Wrexham need?
Emma is right to play herself down
I’ve encountered Emma Raducanu in Nottingham at the outset of the past two grass court seasons, when she’s expressed hope of great things, which didn’t happen.
It was gratifying to hear her say last week that she had her doubts about this summer. Dampened expectations will give her a little more space to breathe and even flourish.
Cusack’s forbearance is an inspiration
I met David Cusack, whose daughter Maddy, a young Sheffield United footballer, took her own life. I was struggling to find the words to say, ‘You lost a child. I can’t begin to imagine…’ when he put me at ease.
I then watched him witness Jonathan Morgan – the coach who caused his daughter distress before she died – castigating the family’s approach to the inquest into her death.
I observed David Cusack’s forbearance in the face of such indignity. ‘Safe travels. See you next time,’ he said, and as I watched him go, I wondered how much more one father – one family – could possibly be asked to endure.
Last week I observed the forbearance of David Cusack (furthest right) in the face of such indignity
The Glazer stench tarnishes all
The Glazer family’s casual indifference to Manchester United, which has driven the club into its current state of competitive irrelevance, is not limited to their Premier League asset.
A survey by the NFL Players Association, reveals that members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team feel the same, dismal complacency from the Glazers, who own the franchise.
The Bucs players’ concerns included cleanliness: 44 per cent of them reported ‘ongoing plumbing issues’ and persistent ‘bad odours’ in communal areas.
The Glazer stench. It’s a persistent theme.