Moyes Leaves Grealish Out Twice but Insists There Is a Way Back

• Moyes said Jack Grealish is “unavailable at the moment” after Everton won 1-0 at Newcastle on Monday night, per Mirror.
• Asked whether Grealish could be brought back into the fold, the Everton manager answered: “Of course there is, yes.”
• Grealish, 31, has missed two matchday squads inside a week and Everton host Coventry on Friday night.

Everton Keep the Reason for Grealish’s Absence Under Wraps

Asked whether Jack Grealish could be brought back into the fold on a longer-term basis, David Moyes said: “Of course there is, yes.” The Everton manager spoke after his side won 1-0 at St James’ Park on Monday night. On every other part of the Grealish question, he gave away almost nothing. The 31-year-old Manchester City loanee was missing from a matchday squad for the second time inside a week, and Moyes would not say whether the reason is fitness or discipline. Whether Grealish can face Coventry on Friday is also unknown. “I don’t know yet,” Moyes said.

Moyes Gives Nothing Away on the Reason

The manager’s first answer was short. “He’s unavailable at the moment and we will make a decision with the club when we think that availability comes back,” Moyes said. Pressed on whether the absence is linked to the fitness issue Everton had raised, he repeated himself. “All I’m giving out is that he is unavailable at the moment.” Asked about a disciplinary issue, he said: “I can’t comment on that.” He also put it more simply: “He’s just not available yet.”

The club has put Monday’s absence down to a lack of fitness. The first omission carried a different label. Before the Carabao Cup tie with Newcastle last Thursday, Everton announced that Grealish had been left out for “a breach of club discipline”, the decision covered in Everton’s drop of Grealish. The breach turned out to be a failure to report for team training, and it is understood he missed a scheduled session. Moyes backed the decision at the time. Grealish is now understood not to have regained fitness after the breach, which leaves the two explanations sitting side by side with no word on how they connect.

Everton Barely Missed Him

The team has not suffered. Moyes picked Tyrique George and Tyler Dibling on the flanks at Newcastle, with Thierno Barry up front and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at number 10. Everton kept a clean sheet and found the one goal they needed. It was their first Premier League away victory of the season. Moyes said: “We’ve actually done quite well in some of the games getting draws in some difficult games, but we’ve not picked up a victory.”

That made it two wins over Newcastle inside a week without Grealish. The Carabao Cup tie finished 3-1, and Barry scored the third. Moyes had hoped to pick up that first away win, and “tonight thankfully we did with a clean sheet and we got the goal that counted.”

A Loan That Has Gone Cold

Grealish became the first British £100million player when he left Aston Villa for City in 2021, and his best season came in the 2023 treble year. His involvement at the Etihad shrank after that, and his City contract expires in the summer. Last season at Everton he scored twice in 22 games before injury cut the loan short. This term he has played six games in all competitions with no goal involvement after rejoining. His £10,000 gift to a terminally ill fan came hours before the first omission.

What Happens on Friday

Frank Lampard’s newly promoted Coventry visit Hill Dickinson Stadium on Friday night, and the squad list will tell the story. If Grealish is named, Moyes’s “of course there is” has an early answer. If he is missing again, the fitness explanation will need more detail than “unavailable at the moment”. For now the manager holds the answer, and he has chosen not to share it.

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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