Everton have already recouped £15m Jack Grealish investment after summer move

Add as preferred source on Google

Everton’s signing of Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City has already proven to be a superb signing for David Moyes.

Everton signed Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City in mid-August after a sustained period of bench-warming for the Cityzens, resulting in a need for regular minutes.

It’s been a resounding success with four assists and one goal in 10 Premier League games for the Toffees under David Moyes, and they’ve staved a long way away from where they usually would have been in previous years in terms of relegation.

And, although a move is likely to cost £15million once his loan fee and wages are taken into account, Everton News’ football finance expert Adam Williams believes that the Toffees have slowly but surely paid it back.

Jack Grealish’s status, performances and a new stadium means Everton have all but paid off his fees

Everton have already reaped the benefits of Jack Grealish’s brilliance on the pitch. He’s started in every possible Premier League game except his debut against Leeds, and the clash against Manchester City where he was ineligible due to the terms of his loan spell.

In fact, Grealish has played in all but two minutes of every game that he’s started, being hauled off to secure points against Wolves at the end of August – and so even at £15million, his influence has been seen.

And Everton News’ football finance correspondent, Adam Williams, has estimated that the Toffees will almost have entirely paid off Grealish’s loan fee – as long as they maintain their position in the Premier League.

Williams said: “In terms of his wages and the loan fee Everton have paid Man City for him, he’s going to cost Everton in the region on £15m this season.

“There are a couple of ways of working out your return on investment here. If we’re looking at things pretty crudely, his goals and assists have been decisive in three wins this season – two assists against Brighton in the 2-0 win, two against Wolves in the 3-2 win, and the last-minute winner against Crystal Palace. That’s nine points right there.

“If you look at the mid-table range in the Premier League in recent seasons, picking up nine extra points will move you five places up in the table. Each of those places if worth about £2m in prize money. So it’s a very crude, unscientific calculation, but you could say in that sense that Grealish has repaid £10m of his fee already.

“Of course, we don’t know what would have happened in the counterfactual if he hadn’t been at Everton, but the club will see the value in those decisive, game-changing moments. With a player like Grealish, there are commercial benefits too. Sometimes, individual star power can be overstated in terms of how much it actually moves the needle for a single club.

“But in Grealish’s case, he is genuinely an international brand. Maybe you make an extra £250,000 in shirt sales because of him. You might also be on TV one more time than you would have otherwise – that’s another £1m from the Premier League in fees.

“Then, there are intangible benefits. He was the glitzy, glamorous summer signing which, in tandem with the new stadium, I imagine got a few Evertonians pretty excited for the season. Maybe they spend an extra fiver here and there on merchandise, or getting to the ground an hour earlier and buying some food. Maybe they upgrade their general admission ticket to a hospitality ticket. These things are hard to quantify and trace back to Grealish directly, but he will have had a modest impact commercially this season.

“So I think there’s an argument to suggest that he has already repaid the £15m that Everton are spending on him this season. The disadvantage of a loan deal with big wages is that you are investing in an ‘asset’ that you can’t later sell. Ultimately, value is in the eye of the beholder, but I think it’s pretty clear the deal is working.”

Everton fans will be hoping that he more than pays that off in the months to come, potentially dragging Everton into a European spot.

Everton could look to do deals of a similar nature in the future given Grealish’s success

With Grealish now entering the conversation for the England team once again, that will be of huge benefit to him.

But it may also be a huge indication that players can come to Everton to resurrect their careers if they somewhat fall off the beaten track.

For example, the likes of Marcus Rashford joined Aston Villa on loan last season after falling out of favour at Manchester United.

Although Everton were struggling under Sean Dyche at the turn of the January transfer window and thus wouldn’t have been a solid option for him, that has begun to change under David Moyes.

If Everton can continue bringing similar players in to Grealish, they could forge a reputation for themselves as a trusted club which will only bleed long-term rewards.