Everton have beaten West Ham to the signing of Jack Grealish from Manchester City — but the twist is that it could actually be great news for Graham Potter.
West Ham looked to have leapfrogged Everton in the race for Man City outcast Jack Grealish last week.
Toffees boss David Moyes appeared to get one over on his old club West Ham when he sealed the signing of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea.
Along with Man City’s James McAtee and Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey, Dewsbury-Hall had been consistently linked with the Hammers since Graham Potter’s arrival in east London.
It is another Manchester City man who was at the centre of a battle between West Ham and Everton of late, though.
West Ham and Everton went head-to-head for Grealish
West Ham and Everton have reportedly been leading the race to sign Grealish from Man City this summer.
There was some interest from Serie A champions Napoli in Man City’s £100m outcast since he was told he can leave by Pep Guardiola.
Grealish’s camp has made it clear he wanted to stay in the Premier League, though, with the Hammers and Toffees going head-to-head for his signature on loan.
The former Villa playmaker is said to be desperate to go to a club where he will be a guaranteed starter in a bid to win back his England squad place under Thomas Tuchel ahead of the World Cup at the end of the season.
It was previously reported that Potter likes Grealish and the player was open to a move to east London.
Everton looked the club most likely to sign Grealish when West Ham appeared to switch their intentions to Ramsey and Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes.
Hammers News warned Moyes publicly calling out his club’s owners could give Everton the edge over West Ham for Grealish.
Since then Potter has also pleaded for more signings, prompting an exciting response from West Ham’s owners.
West Ham desperately need more guile, creativity and personality in their team.
But now Moyes appears to have got one over on his old side.
Everton beat West Ham to Man City star Grealish
Because Everton have beaten West Ham to Man City star Grealish but it’s actually great news for Potter.
A host of outlets have reported a deal has been agreed to take Grealish to Everton.
Fabrizio Romano has given the move his trademark ‘Here we go’ too.
Romano says Grealish is having his medical and the deal should be confirmed in the next 24 hours.
There have been reports that Everton are fronting £250k of Grealish’s huge £300k per week wages.
That would likely have ruled West Ham out of the equation above anything else.
Hammers fans will be gutted by the development as many liked the idea of Grealish bringing some stardust to their team.
But it could be the best news of the summer for Potter.
Grealish blow is actually great news for Hammers boss Potter
Because the only way Potter was realistically going to be signing him was in a Grealish deal put to West Ham by Man City last week.
It was reported that Man City were going to use Grealish as a makeweight in a fresh move for Hammers star Lucas Paqueta.
The report stated Guardiola still wants the Brazilian since he was cleared of spot-fixing but Man City were reluctant to pay West Ham’s £60-70m asking price.
As a result, a journalist claimed Manchester City were going to offer Grealish, presumably on a fully paid up loan, to lower West Ham’s Paqueta price.
That seems to have sparked Everton into action on a deal, though.
Now it looks highly likely Paqueta will be remaining at West Ham.
And while West Ham fans loved the idea of Grealish in the team, there is an argument to say keeping Paqueta is much more valuable to the club.
The Brazil international is 27 whereas Grealish turns 30 next month.
Both are excellent players who have not been at their best for the last 18 months or so.
But retaining Paqueta over taking a risk on bringing Grealish to the bright lights of London looks the better end of the deal.
In fact if you ask most Everton fans who they would prefer between Grealish and Paqueta, many would likely choose the West Ham man.
The fact Man City wanted Paqueta to replace Grealish also speaks volumes.
So bad news for West Ham on the Grealish front – but in reality it is a big Paqueta positive.
