Jack Grealish verdict shared after Everton transfer breakthrough - 'Not a stupid quote'

Jack Grealish verdict shared after Everton transfer breakthrough - 'Not a stupid quote'

EXCLUSIVE: David Moyes can bring the best out of 'maverick' attacking talents like Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Tyler Dibling believes former Everton player Kevin Kilbane

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tyler Dibling and Jack Grealish

With Everton closing in on Tyler Dibling as their biggest signing of the summer and having already snapped up Jack Grealish on loan, David Moyes has been backed to bring the best out of football’s flair players who are the game’s “mavericks.”

‌

After previously failing to agree a deal with Southampton, Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs are now understood to be in the final stages of bringing in teenage sensation Dibling from St Mary’s having acquired Grealish, who in 2021 became the first £100million English player when he moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City. Kevin Kilbane, who arrived at Goodison Park as part of a quartet on summer transfer deadline day in 2003, along with Nigel Martyn, James McFadden and Francis Jeffers, who returned on loan, has tipped Blues boss Moyes to unleash the full potential of such tricky talents.

‌

He told the ECHO: “I think Jack Grealish can be huge, absolutely huge. I think it’s such a big signing. His quality, his character. I think he’s a player who David Moyes will love to have around the dressing room with what he’s going to bring which is the ultimate and supreme quality that he’s got.

‌

What Tyler Dibling really thinks of big transfer as Everton close to major deal READ MORE:

Everton announce major new Hill Dickinson Stadium partner as Peter Reid stars in advert READ MORE:

“Honestly, when I’ve watched him over the last few years, I feel like his game has been quite restricted and he’s had to play a certain way within a really strict system that Manchester City have played. I think David Moyes will actually bring him out a little bit, start to give him a bit more freedom and allow him to express himself a lot more.

“I genuinely think he’s going to be a huge success at Everton, I think he’s going to be one that we look back on and go: ‘What a player he was for Everton, and what a joy it’s been to watch him.’”

Kilbane added: “Jack comes across to me as a really strong character, but he’s a player who you need to tell: ‘Go and do what you do.’ The message to him needs to be: ‘Let’s see the real Jack Grealish.’

‌

“Let’s see what he’s capable of producing and I think David Moyes will absolutely do that with him. He has had a lot of mavericks within his sides.

“Going back to my time, Tommy Gravesen was a real maverick and he knew how to handle him, he knew what to do with Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta and then there was the likes of Kevin Mirallas. He’s had to allow those players to go out and express themselves, all of them have excelled under David Moyes and Grealish is in that bracket.

“You could argue that Grealish is actually better than any of them. Given his ability and what David Moyes will say internally, I think you’ve got a match made in heaven.

‌

“It’s not just a stupid quote that I’ve thrown out there. I have the ultimate respect for David Moyes for what he’s done for me across my life and career – that goes without saying – but I know the way he handled the players that needed something different and he can do it and I really think that Grealish will excel under him.”

Former left winger Kilbane who was speaking to the ECHO on behalf of best Online casinos affiliate Casino.org admits he’s intrigued by the prospect of where Everton’s new attacking midfield recruits will be deployed. He said: “I think it’s going to be really interesting to see what David Moyes does, how he’s going to adapt his style and what sort of system he is going to play. Grealish can play out on the flanks or as a 10 and if he’s going to start with him plus the likes of Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, then they will have more defensive minded players around them.

“They’ll be allowed to go out and play but there will also be a mentality that there’s an expectation when you’re in a David Moyes side to filter back into position and your shape back in the side. These are the fundamentals and the boring stuff that people don’t want to talk about but are essential to play.”

‌

Kevin Kilbane, James McFadden, David Moyes, Nigel Martyn and Francis Jeffers in 2003

Everton, who host Brighton & Hove Albion in their first Premier League game at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday are looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to newly promoted Leeds United last Monday. Unlike Moyes and James Tarkowski, Kilbane can see why referee Christopher Kavanagh pointed to the spot but he believes there is still a concerning lack of consistency when it comes to the handball law and penalty decisions.

The 48-year-old said: “It kills me to say it but I thought the James Tarkowski incident at Leeds probably was a penalty but I remember watching the Community Shield the previous weekend and Alexis Mac Allister went up in the box and his hand is in a clear and unnatural position and the ball hits his arm – penalty, all day, every day of the week – but it goes to a VAR check and it wasn’t given. Then you look at what happened at Leeds and the inconsistencies that we’re constantly seeing, why was that one not given and then this one was given?

Article continues below

“Because the referee had blown his whistle, it wasn’t overturned, and I get that. But again, the explanation is that the assistant referee had seen it from so far away, I just didn’t get it, the explanation was unclear to me, and it seemed totally wrong how the decision came about.”

Click here to read article