Maresca Keeps Options Open for Grealish as Everton Shows Interest

Enzo Maresca has barely sat down in the Manchester City hot seat, but one of his first tasks already carries a £100m headline: what happens next with Jack Grealish?

The new City manager refused to close the door on Grealish staying at the Etihad, even as Everton push to bring him back to Merseyside after his influential loan spell last season.

“At the moment, he's here. He's a Man City player,” Maresca said at his first press conference, a clear message that, for now, Grealish remains part of his plans.

The 30-year-old spent last season at Everton and, when fit, delivered exactly what Sean Dyche’s side needed. He came up with two late match-winning goals and six assists, often dragging games in Everton’s favour with moments of composure and class. Then came the setback that stopped everything cold.

In January, in a 1-0 win at his former club Aston Villa, Grealish suffered a stress fracture in his foot. The injury ended his season on the pitch but not his time around the squad. He stayed at Finch Farm to complete his rehab, only officially leaving when his loan expired last month.

Now he’s back in Manchester, working through the final stages of recovery and edging closer to full training. The surroundings are familiar. The man in charge is, too.

Maresca knows Grealish from his previous spell as Pep Guardiola’s assistant. The Italian has since taken charge of Leicester City and Chelsea, and now inherits Guardiola’s empire at City. That shared history with Grealish matters to him.

“Jack is here. I have a good relation with Jack since I left,” Maresca said. “Also, we keep in touch, and the reason why is because he has a big heart and he's a very good guy. So this is the reason why. And then we see what happens.”

Those last seven words will be replayed on Merseyside. Everton want him back. Inside Goodison’s corridors, there is a belief that Grealish also wants to return, keen to pick up where he left off before injury cut short a season that had finally given him rhythm and responsibility.

But desire is only one part of the equation. Fitness is the first hurdle. Until Grealish proves he is ready for the demands of the Premier League again, serious negotiations will wait.

Then comes the hard part: the deal itself. City are understood to favour a permanent sale rather than another loan. For a player who cost £100m and still carries the profile of an England international, that instantly changes the conversation. It’s a different financial landscape for Everton, a club that has had to tread carefully in recent windows.

So Grealish works away at City’s training ground, Maresca talks about duty and opportunity, and Everton wait for a crack in the door.

Is this the start of Grealish’s second act at the Etihad under a manager who knows his strengths, or the prelude to a permanent move back to a club where he already feels at home?