Jack Grealish is rather liking life at Everton. The player moved from Manchester City to the Toffees on loan on the 12th of August 2025 after being given limited game time by Pep Guardiola in 2023/24 and especially during the 2024/25 campaign. He was reported to be devastated at having been left out of the England squad for the Euros in 2024 and, with the World Cup taking place next summer, was keen to get regular game time in order to press his case for international recall.
It always felt like it could be a good move, with Grealish perhaps thriving when he is loved and is his team’s star man. At City, he was one of many elite players and Pep asked him to temper his free instincts and perform a more measured, positionally restricted role. In contrast, at Everton, he is the star the fans have longed craved and the flair player who can elevate their attacking play. Moreover, David Moyes is a manager who has become adept at getting the best out of such footballers, with Moyes showing at West Ham his ability to use his own experience to get the best out of mavericks and to incorporate such players into a hardworking team set-up.
Grealish made his debut for the Toffees six days after joining, coming on for the last 19 minutes as they lost at Leeds. However, he started the next game, at home to Brighton, Everton’s first competitive match at their new home on Bramley-Moore Dock. He was superb, as the club’s house-warming went off brilliantly, Moyes’ men winning 2-0. Grealish assisted both goals, showing different sides of his game and looking a class above anybody else on display.
At the end of the month, the former Aston Villa man started again and provided two more assists for his team. The first was a fine header across goal to leave Beto with the simplest of finishes, while the second was a lovely dinked pass through for fellow Everton new boy Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Grealish has been rewarded for his displays with obvious love and affection from the Everton fans. Grealish is a character, not a media-savvy robot, and his throwback nature has always made him popular with fans. And now he has received more official recognition with his displays, being named the Premier League Player of the Month for August just two days after turning 30. Not a bad belated birthday present!
Grealish Adds Name to Greats
Welcome to Everton, @JackGrealish! 🔵
— Everton (@Everton) August 12, 2025
Perhaps surprisingly for a player with three Premier League titles to his name, one of which was a treble alongside the FA Cup and Champions League, this is the first time that Grealish has won this prize. While some lesser lights occasionally claim the prize, such as Justin Kluivert (January 2025), Rodrigo Muniz (March 2024) or going back much further, Connor Wickham (April 2014), the list of previous winners largely contains some of the PL’s greatest ever stars.
This is particularly illustrated when we look at the players who have claimed the Player of the Month multiple times. Mo Salah, Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero lead the way with seven wins apiece. Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo won it six times, with Bruno Fernandes, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie doing so on five occasions.
Some truly world-class players have won it just twice, and Grealish should now be aiming to join the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Ryan Giggs, Eden Hazard, Roy Keane, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Gianfranco Zola. If he can achieve that this season with the Toffees, then who knows just how high Moyes can guide Everton?
Grealish Becomes 10th Toffee Honoured
Grealish, who will hope to add to his 39 England caps and four goals, is technically still a Man City player. However, he has won this award with Everton, becoming the 10th Toffee to win the prize. No Everton player has yet won it more than once, so Grealish has the chance to make more history there.
Only five clubs have seen more than 10 of their players become Premier League Player of the Month. Man United sit top of that tree, with 23, while Arsenal are next on 22. However, the other nine Everton footballers recognised are:
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin – September 2020
- Romelu Lukaku – March 2017
- Marouane Fellaini – November 2012
- Nikica Jelavic – April 2012
- Phil Jagielka – February 2009
- Andrew Johnson – September 2006
- Kevin Campbell – April 1999
- Andrei Kanchelskis – April 1996
- Duncan Ferguson – February 1995
The majority of those players were signed by Moyes. Only Ferguson and Jagielka stayed long enough at the club to really earn hero status, but Toffees will be hoping that Grealish can do just that. Can he maintain his form, though? That is the big question.
Can Grealish Fire Everton into Europe?
Everton will host Aston Villa after the international break, and he will no doubt be keen to put on another fine display. If he can maintain the form he has shown thus far, then the excitement at Everton will only grow. The club have long struggled for goals and creativity, which is no huge surprise given their limited finances over the past seven years as they have walked the tightrope of Profit & Sustainability.
They have had to sell attacking players like Lukaku, Richarlison and Anthony Gordon, as well as other promising players like Lucas Digne and Amadou Onana. They are in a much better position now after years of frugality, and with new owners and a new, far more lucrative stadium, they will hope to build something.
They are yet to see if Thierno Barry can be the 20+ goal striker they have lacked since Lukaku left. However, with Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye on the flanks, plus Dewsbury-Hall, Charly Alcaraz and Dwight McNeil, they have more creative options than they have had for a long time. Grealish will help create space for those others too, and while Everton lack a little squad depth, if they are lucky with injuries, they could have a really good season.
Whether they can push for a European place remains to be seen, but Everton fans certainly have more cause for optimism than they have had for years, and Grealish is just one part of that.
