Man City transfer news: City facing huge loss on Jack Grealish as cut-price exit looms

Man City transfer news: City facing huge loss on Jack Grealish as cut-price exit looms
While Jack Grealish is on loan at Everton until the end of the season with an option to buy. Photo by: IMAGO / Sportimage

Jack Grealish is far from Manchester City, currently on loan at Everton. His future no longer lies with the Citizens and a permanent departure is expected this summer, the question is simply where, and for how much.

A key contributor to City's Champions League triumph in 2023, the left winger subsequently endured a sharp decline, managing just three goals and five assists in 32 appearances during a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. The Manchester City board and Pep Guardiola decided to move him on, at least temporarily.

Grealish ‘willing' to sign permanently for Everton

The Englishman headed to Everton on loan — a spell that was going well on the pitch, with two goals and six assists in 22 matches — before being cut short by a foot injury that has kept him sidelined since late January 2026 and is expected to extend into the summer.

Jack Grealish Everton
While Jack Grealish is on loan at Everton until the end of the season with an option to buy. Photo by: IMAGO / Sportimage

Despite that, Everton are keen and want to keep Grealish beyond the current season via a permanent deal. The England international has also attracted interest from Aston Villa and Barcelona — who see him as a low-cost alternative to Marcus Rashford. But is he genuinely cheaper than the player currently on loan in Spain? According to reports from SportsBoom, confirmed by The i Paper, Manchester City are asking for £34m, even though Everton have a £49m purchase option written into the loan agreement.

The Toffees, keen to retain him, intend to propose a significantly lower fee for Grealish. According to The i Paper, Everton value the attacker at around £21m. The player himself is said to be “willing” to sign permanently for the current eighth-placed Premier League club — but how will Manchester City respond to such an offer?

Grealish — City's expensive near-flop

The i Paper confirms that City are open to a Grealish departure and are willing to discuss terms with Everton if the club want to keep the 30-year-old. On the price, however, no clear position has emerged, and this is a player City signed from Aston Villa for £100m in the summer of 2021, a club record and an enormous sum that his contribution has never come close to justifying.

A sale at £21m, if confirmed, would represent a significant loss and a sharp fall from City's minimum expectations of £34m. But with Grealish on a downward trajectory, Guardiola's club cannot realistically demand too high a price.


Editorial manager and football enthusiast, Axel stays on top of all the key football news, even if he maintains a particular attachment to clubs in the North of France - from Lens to Lille via Dunkirk - since he no longer lives there.