Everton lead race for £50m star on loan

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin seems like he might leave the club on a free transfer in the summer.

After a 239-game stint with the Toffees, he seems set to depart after failing to agree upon a new contract. West Ham United are seemingly ready to pounce, with Football Transfers reporting that they have made contact over a summer move.

With 57 Everton goals to his name in the Premier League, there is no doubt Calvert-Lewin made a real name for himself during his time at Goodison Park. However, he fell well short of Romelu Lukaku’s tally for the Toffees, and it feels like they are yet to find an attacker who can dazzle just as he did in Merseyside.

Well, that could all change this summer, if transfer rumours into the club are to be believed.

Everton’s exciting attacking target

The Toffees have certainly struggled to find an attacker who can get anywhere near the quality Lukaku brought to the club. This is not a slight on other players, but praise to their all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League.

Maybe Jack Grealish can be the man to fill Lukaku’s shoes from a quality point of view. A recent report from The Telegraph suggests Tottenham Hotspur ‘will not enter the race’ for the attacker, and Scudetto winners Napoli ‘will not match’ his wage demands, thus making the Toffees one of the favourites to sign him should they follow up on their recent interest.

Manchester City's Jack Grealish during the warm up before the match

On the 11th June, Football Insider broke the news that Grealish ‘favours a move to Everton’ over another rival club, Newcastle United.

However, wage demands would be an issue, and any move for the Manchester City attacker would ‘need to be a loan deal’ this summer, particularly as he has a £50m price tag.

Why Grealish would be a good signing for Everton

The 2024/25 season has obviously not been what Grealish might have hoped for at the Etihad Stadium.

He played just 32 games, scoring and assisting eight times, and failed to make City’s Club World Cup squad.

Manchester City's Jack Grealish on the substitutes bench

Yet, Grealish is an “inevitable” footballer, according to Statman Dave, and players like that always come good. His talent was on show for all to see as a City player in previous campaigns, including the famous treble-winning season of 2022/23, where he played 50 games and contributed to 16 goals, creating a whopping 94 chances across the season, as per Sofascore.

Grealish key stats in 2022/23 season
Stat (all comps)	Per 90 minutes	Total
Chances created	2.4	94
Big chances created	0.4	16
Dribbles completed	1.9	74
Tackles and interceptions	1.3	50
Expected goal involvements	0.39xGI	14.93xGI
Goal involvements	0.4	16
Stats from Sofascore

On top of that, let’s not forget the impact the England international had at Villa Park, for his boyhood club, Aston Villa. He played 213 games for the West Midlands side, scoring 32 goals and grabbing 43 assists, numbers that promoted a remarkable £100m move.

His goal away to Manchester United, when he was still donning the Claret and Blue of the Villans, showed exactly what he can do. Arguably his best goal for the club, Grealish picked up a loose ball on the left-hand corner of the box, before cutting inside and bending an effort into the far corner.

Moments like that are strong evidence for how Grealish can become Everton’s best attacker since Lukaku. Not necessarily in the same vein of goalscoring form, of course. After all, the Belgian legend is their all-time Premier League top scorer, with 68 strikes, whereas Grealish’s game is more well-rounded.

He certainly has the ability to change a game, like the 32-year-old, who bagged 87 goals for the Toffees in 166 games. Described as “the complete striker” by former boss Roberto Martinez, he was often a catalyst to their success.

That is what Grealish can replicate in an Everton shirt. Like Lukaku, he has that maverick instinct, someone who can flip a game on its head and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. That has been on show countless times for City and Villa.

Although this might only be a temporary deal, signing Grealish would surely be a fantastic piece of business for the Merseyside club.

The excitement and dynamism he would bring could certainly replicate what Lukaku brought to the table. The 29-year-old could, without doubt, be their best attacker since the legendary Belgian.