Everton winger Demarai Gray has been praised for his performances in the Gold Cup while on international duty with Jamaica.
The 27-year-old with ‘real quality’ has been named in the Gold Cup’s starting XI of the group stages, as confirmed by the tournament’s official Twitter account.
Indeed, Gray has had an exceptional tournament for Jamaica so far, scoring a brace on his 27th birthday in a 4-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago.
The winger’s international coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, was quick to heap praise on the Everton star, as reported on Caribbean News Weekly.
Hallgrimsson said: “Now for everyone to see how good an individual talent he (Gray) is, taking players on, creating danger, real quality in everything he did with the ball and he’s fast as well.
It will take time for him to get into the tactics and get to know the players around him but I think it was a good birthday present that he gave to us scoring two goals and creating and I think he had a really good game today.”
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Demarai Gray sale could boost Everton transfer kitty
The former Leicester City winger was often deployed as a makeshift striker under Sean Dyche last season as Everton’s attacking options were threadbare.
However, the Jamaica international may not have a future at the club and has been linked with a move away from Goodison Park this summer.
Indeed, Crystal Palace reportedly see Gray as an option, while Saudi Pro League side Ali Hilal are also interested in the 27-year-old.
Everton signed Gray for £1.7m from German side Bayer Leverkusen back in 2021 and now have a chance to make a sizeable profit on a player seemingly unfancied by Sean Dyche.
A regular starter under Frank Lampard, Demarai Gray was dropped to the bench in five of Dyche’s 18 games in charge last season, with the forward contributing four Premier League goals overall.