Maresca Keeps Door Open for Grealish Amid Everton Interest
Enzo Maresca has barely sat down in the Manchester City hot seat, but one of his first tasks already carries a £100m shadow: Jack Grealish.
The new City manager refused to shut the door on Grealish’s future at the Etihad, even as Everton push hard to bring him back after his influential loan spell on Merseyside.
“At the moment, he’s here. He’s a Man City player,” Maresca said in his first press conference, a simple line that will be pored over in both Manchester and Liverpool.
A loan that changed Everton’s season
Grealish’s time at Everton was short, fractured by injury, but it left a mark.
Operating with freedom and responsibility, he produced two late match-winning goals and six assists before his season abruptly ended. The turning point came in January, in a 1-0 win at his former club Aston Villa, when a stress fracture in his foot ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.
He stayed at Finch Farm to complete the bulk of his rehab, his loan only officially ending last month. Around the training ground, he was treated less like a loanee passing through and more like a player Everton hoped to build around.
The feeling hasn’t gone away. There is a strong desire inside Goodison’s corridors of power to bring him back, and there is a belief that the player would welcome a return.
Familiar face, new role
Now, though, Grealish is back in Manchester, edging closer to full training with his parent club and working under a manager he already knows.
Maresca is no stranger to him. The Italian previously served as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at City before taking on managerial roles at Leicester City and Chelsea. Now he inherits Guardiola’s empire, and with it, some delicate decisions.
“I always said the same. In any club I join, I like to know if there are players that belong to the club. It’s my duty to try to coach them,” Maresca explained. “Jack is here. I have a good relation with Jack since I left. Also, we keep in touch, and the reason why is because he has a big heart and he’s a very good guy.”
Then came the line that will fuel the rumour mill: “And then we see what happens.”
City’s stance and Everton’s hope
For Everton, the path is clear but not simple. First, Grealish has to prove his fitness. Only then can any serious negotiations begin.
City’s preference is said to be a permanent sale rather than another loan, a stance that immediately raises the stakes. A £100m signing, now 30, coming off a significant foot injury, with a new manager assessing his squad and a former loan club desperate to strike — it is a complex equation.
Everton know exactly what they would be buying: creativity, personality, and a player who already delivered in high-pressure moments for them last season. City must decide what they would be losing.
For now, Grealish trains at the Etihad, Maresca watches closely, and Everton wait. How long City keep that door ajar may define one of the stories of this window.
