Jack Grealish in – What next for Everton’s other attacking threats? | OneFootball

The summer of 2025 has seen significant change and transitions at Everton across various levels of the football club.

The biggest talking point, however, within the fanbase and media coverage has been surrounding the first team squad with 11 players departing the football club following the expiration of their contracts on June 30. These included first-team regulars for several seasons, such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure, as well as four players who spent the 2024/25 campaign on loan, including Jack Harrison, Jesper Lindstrøm, Orel Mangala & Armando Broja.

From this came the expectation from supporters that the club needed to recruit a significant number of new signings for the upcoming new season, a historic one for the football club as they move into their brand-new stadium on the banks of the Mersey, Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Ahead of their new campaign commencing, Everton have made seven first-team signings, six of which are on permanent deals, with the one loan deal arguably being the most anticipated.

On August 12, Everton announced the signing of English forward Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City, with reports suggesting the club have an option to buy the 29-year-old next summer for a fee in the region of £50 million. This deal has brought huge excitement and optimism among the fanbase with Grealish touted as the club’s ‘marquee signing’ of the summer.

Moving forward, there is no doubt that Grealish will become Everton’s best and most dangerous attacking threat from either a wider position or while playing just behind the lone striker.

This now leaves question marks surrounding Everton’s other current attacking players, excluding centre-forwards, and what role they may find themselves in for the upcoming season. Reports suggest that Everton are still looking to bring in more players before the end of the transfer window.

Currently, the football club has up to four players that you would argue would be competing for first-team places alongside Grealish, and they are as follows: Iliman Ndiaye, Charly Alcaraz, Dwight McNeil and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

An assessment will now be made for each player individually and what role they will play within David Moyes’ side for this upcoming season:

Iliman Ndiaye

A player that pretty much the entire fanbase would argue was, or still may be, Everton’s most exciting attacking threat. The 25-year-old Senegalese international arrived at Everton last summer from Marseille and instantly became a favourite amongst the Toffee supporters.

Ndiaye registered 11 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions in his debut season on Merseyside. Two of those goals were significant ones, as the last scored by a men’s first-team player at Goodison Park in Everton’s final home game of the season against Southampton back in May.

Going into the new season, you would expect Ndiaye to remain as one of Everton’s key players and a regular first-team starter. A player who, during the majority of the 2024/25 season, occupied himself playing off the left, a position that Jack Grealish also prefers, so this certainly creates a dilemma as to what positions David Moyes chooses to play Ndiaye and Grealish in his Everton side.

However, even with the arrival of Grealish, you would still expect Ndiaye to be a regular starter for The Toffees going forward.

Charly Alcaraz

Alcaraz arrived at Everton on loan from Brazilian side Flamengo back in January until the end of the 2024/25 season, with an option to buy within the deal. This was activated by the club shortly after the season concluded and Alcaraz became the first signing of the summer for a fee in the region of £12 million.

During his loan spell, Alcaraz made 16 appearances in all competitions for Everton, scoring two goals and creating three assists. Very quickly, the 22-year-old became a favourite amongst the fanbase, with one of his best moments coming away to Crystal Palace, in which he scored the winning goal in Everton’s 2-1 victory, resulting in his name being sung by the travelling supporters at Selhurst Park.

Heading into the new season, there is huge speculation within the media that Everton are actively looking to bring in a right winger to play alongside Grealish and Ndiaye as Everton’s first-choice attacking trio to sit behind the solo striker.

For this reason, Alcaraz could be consigned to a squad player for the upcoming season and would be one of the first names to come off the bench, or be given a start should an injury be picked up by a regular starter.

Conclusion: Squad Player

Dwight McNeil

Dwight McNeil has question marks surrounding his name heading into the upcoming season. McNeil arrived at Everton in the summer of 2022 from Burnley following their relegation to the Championship, and during his time at the club, he has been a regular starter due to his consistency and reliability in terms of fitness; however, some would argue the club have lacked in competition in wide areas.

Despite only featuring 21 times in the Premier League during the 2024/25 season due to an injury sustained in November that kept the 25-year-old out for four months, McNeil still had a relatively positive season in terms of output and goal contributions, registering four goals and six assists.

Heading into the new season, the club is actively looking to bring in a first-choice right winger to bolster the squad following departures earlier in the summer, so competition for places is expected to increase.

McNeil may fall down the pecking order and become a squad player as a result

Conclusion: Squad Player

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

A player, who like Grealish, is one of several new arrivals at Everton this summer. On August 6, Dewsbury-Hall was announced as an Everton player, having arrived from Chelsea on a permanent deal for a fee in the region of £25 million.

The 26-year-old enjoyed a successful period during his time at Leicester City, in which he most notably guided the Foxes back to the Premier League in 2023/24 during his final season in the East Midlands, and won the club’s players’ player and supporters’ player of the season before moving to the capital and joining Chelsea.

Dewsbury-Hall is a player who offers versatility and can play in multiple positions within the midfield area. During his Everton debut against Roma in the final pre-season game of the summer, he played as an attacking midfielder in front of the regular midfield duo of Idrissa Gana Gueye and James Garner.

However, with the arrival of Jack Grealish, he could drop into a deeper role as a box-to-box midfielder, a position that, during his first interview as an Everton player, he spoke about as being his ‘most preferred’.

Moving forward, having signed a long-term contract with Everton, you would think ‘KDH’ will be a regular starter for the Toffees in whatever position David Moyes chooses to play him in. Dewsbury-Hall will no doubt play a key role in Everton looking to become successful once again and begin to look up the table rather than down.

Thanks Joe for that statement “ There is no doubt that Grealish will become Everton’s best and most dangerous threat playing from a wider position or playing just behind a lone striker”.

Let all the talking stop at 8-00pm tonight and let’s see some action—not on one nights performance but give Jack a few matches to find his rhythm and hopefully he will prove his worth on the field and get Everton worth watching again.

Talk is cheap let the action take over— Sincere best of luck Jack.