Everton thought they had secured £1.7m masterstroke – then he insulted his manager and was sold

The 28-year-old former Blues winger left Goodison Park last summer after two turbulent years.

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For Everton in the contemporary period, transfer masterstrokes have been rare. However, it appeared as though they had pulled one off in the summer of 2021.

With Carlo Ancelotti’s departure and Rafael Benitez’s contentious hiring as manager, it was immediately clear that the Blues would face difficulties throughout the preseason. Additionally, there was a perception that new additions wouldn’t cost a lot of money after years of extravagant expenditure.

That was evident in the early deals. Andros Townsend left Newcastle United and joined on a free transfer. Then Demarai Grey did, too, for a mere £1.7 million.

There was definitely interest because of the winger’s price. After all, Grey was once a fantastic prospect at Leicester City, where he regularly gave the Foxes good displays against Everton. There was a sense that he would succeed in the Bundesliga when he signed with Bayer Leverkusen in 2020.

However, after just ten Premier League games for Bayer, he was back playing for Everton in the Premier League.

Grey was excellent throughout the first few weeks of the season. Everton’s start under Benitez has been surprisingly impressive, with goals against Burnley, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Leeds United. The England youth international has been rejuvenated behind the center-forward.

Grey was the one who frequently provided a spark, even when everything started to go apart for Benitez in the upcoming weeks. Even though Everton lost 4-1 in the end, he scored in the Merseyside derby to cut Liverpool’s two-goal advantage. Later, he stunned Arsenal in stoppage time to relieve some of the burden on his manager.

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However, Benitez would not survive long; at the end of January, Frank Lampard was eventually called up to take his place. The former Chelsea player managed to keep Everton out of relegation danger, but he was never able to defeat Grey the way Benitez did.

In fact, Gray’s delivery of the free kick that set up Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s thrilling winning goal against Crystal Palace in 2022 was maybe his most significant contribution while playing under Lampard.

Under Sean Dyche, it was the same thing when Lampard received his marching orders. Due to a lack of funding and several injuries, Everton had few attacking options, therefore the new manager decided to deploy Grey as a backup centre striker. Beyond that, though, Dyche thought Gray’s bursts of creativity were inferior to the vast areas expertise of Dwight McNeil and Alex Iwobi.

Grey was the centre forward on the field when Everton defeated Bournemouth to win the Premier League, and heading into the summer, there was speculation that he would be traded if the right chance presented itself. At that moment, the Blues were heading towards their first PSR charge, of course, and sales were imperative.

When the summer transfer window for 2023 closed, Grey ultimately had the opportunity to depart Everton when Al-Ettifaq, a Saudi club, made a move. However, the sale did not proceed without incident.

Grey responded to Dyche’s statement that he didn’t think the forward would leave the team by taking to social media. “Everton fans have always been great with me but it is so difficult to play for someone who don’t show you respect as a person,” he posted to Instagram.

In an interview with the club’s official channels, Dyche addressed the remarks. “It’s an unfortunate one because I try to keep our business in-house,” he stated. “I believe it is appropriate to respond at this time.

“Demarai made it clear that he felt he was getting a move [away from Everton], and he told us a move was done, which was interesting to hear from a player.”

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