Grealish, 31, Is Back in Everton Training After Three Games in Exile

• Jack Grealish has returned to Everton’s Finch Farm training ground after missing three games, per Daily Mail.
• The plan is for the 31-year-old to rejoin first-team sessions next week.
• Everton’s next league game is away to Brentford on Monday 23 November.

Brentford on 23 November Gives Grealish a Target

Jack Grealish is back at Finch Farm. After three games out of the Everton squad, the 31-year-old winger has returned to the club’s training ground, and David Moyes says the club will be working with him again. Asked about the situation at his pre-match press conference, the Everton manager revealed little. “I wouldn’t give you the plan but we will be working with Jack again soon,” Moyes said. The plan, as it stands, is for Grealish to rejoin first-team sessions next week. He was not in the squad for Friday’s home game against Coventry, and the international break follows. The next league game, away to Brentford on 23 November, is the one he is targeting.

How the Exile Began

Everton left Grealish out of the squad for the Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle on 29 October after he failed to report for a training session. The absence followed a breach of club discipline. It is understood staff struggled to make contact with him. The decision to drop him came weeks after Moyes had urged him in public to act as a role model.

Grealish then missed the Premier League game at Newcastle on Monday 2 November, and he was not in the matchday squad for the home game against Coventry on Friday, with a lack of match fitness the reason. That makes three games out. Before the exile, he had started four matches in a row. He missed the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on 24 October through illness, and he has made seven appearances for Everton this season.

Moyes gave no details when he was asked about the punishment on Thursday. “You probably know I’m not going to give any details, it is a club decision and I support that decision (for him to be punished). It is something I don’t want to speak too much about.”

He then spoke about the standards at the club. “The one thing about Everton is that we have got really good values behind it. All the players stand up to the values and accept the values, on the pitch and off the pitch. From that point of view, I think the players did a brilliant job.”

The Plan for the Way Back

Grealish will be reintegrated on a training programme built to rebuild his match fitness. First-team sessions could follow next week, over the international break. Everton do not play again until the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford, which gives him more than two weeks to work for a place in the squad. Grealish is targeting a return in that fixture.

Hours before Everton dropped him, Grealish had given £10,000 to a terminally ill fan.

What Is at Stake for Grealish

Everton signed Grealish on loan from Manchester City for a second successive season on transfer deadline day. His contract at City runs out next summer and he is unlikely to be offered a new deal, so the weeks ahead matter. His absence has sparked debate over his future at Everton.

The three-time Premier League winner has played for England 39 times. He has turned out for Everton on 22 occasions, scoring twice and providing six assists, and a foot injury cut short his campaign last season.

Moyes spelled out what he wanted from him in September. “I think Jack knows what I expect now. We had lots of conversations last year,” the manager said. “He knows when he comes here there is an opportunity for him to play and to show what he can do. But I also want him to be a senior professional and a role model.”

He went on: “We’ve got Tyrique [George] and Tyler [Dibbling] and if ever you are looking at somebody for how to play as a wide player, Jack Grealish would certainly be one of them. I think both of them could learn an awful lot from Jack and I want him to become that senior citizen amongst them, somebody who teaches them.”

Moyes added: “I think we’ve got a mature Jack Grealish now as well in terms of understanding the game and what is required, being a team player – not that he is an individual but he plays with an individual style.”

The work at Finch Farm leads to Brentford, and Moyes has said the club will be working with him again soon. Earlier comments from the manager on a way back for Grealish now have a date attached.

WRITTEN BY

George Howson

George Howson is a Futbol Chronicle contributor and accredited journalist with over 20 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, George has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing deep knowledge and first-hand insight to every match report and analysis he writes.

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