Jack Grealish is expected to miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his foot, Everton boss David Moyes has said.
Grealish, on loan from Manchester City, is likely to undergo surgery on the injury, suffered in Everton’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday 18 January.
Moyes said today (Friday 30 January): “We believe he’s probably going to need surgery but that’s still not absolutely confirmed – but it probably rules him out for the rest of the season.
He was speaking as the Toffees prepare for their match against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex tomorrow.
Moyes said: “It’s really disappointing for the player and for the club and all of us here.
“He’s such an important part. He’s a big character, big experience for us. We’ll miss him. He’s done a lot of really good things for us.”
Asked if it was too early to think about Grealish’s long-term future, given his success at Everton before his injury, Moyes added: “Far too early”.
After a frustrating spell at City, Grealish had been thriving at Everton this term, with two goals and six assists in 22 appearances not telling the full story of the number of chances the 30-year-old has been creating.
Moyes said that Everton continue to look for opportunities in the final weekend of the January transfer window but indicated that he was not expecting much, if any, business to happen.
He said: “I’d like to say we’re out there looking which I think I’ve said in every press conference.
“We’re out there looking. It’s not that we’re shying away from it. I would say it’s probably less than likely than likely…
“(In) January you can find players, it’s not to say you can’t, but I think we’re seeing this window becoming quite a difficult one for a lot of teams.”
Everton’s biggest problem this season has been finding a reliable goalscorer. Summer signing Thierno Barry needed 17 appearances to score his first goal for the club but the French forward now has four in his past six games.
Moyes still wants more from the 23-year-old, saying: “He has to keep progressing but how he’s playing at the moment wouldn’t be enough to satisfy me. He’ll have to play much better, score more goals.
“He needs to keep improving but he has stepped up and scored a lot of important goals for us. Goals that won us a game at Aston Villa, for example. And a goal last week that got us a point (against Leeds).”
Moyes added that he is yet to make a final decision regarding Harrison Armstrong’s immediate future.
The 19-year-old has made five appearances for the Toffees since being recalled from a loan spell at Preston at the start of the month.
At the time, Moyes had said that was likely to be a short-term move to cover for absentees but it is not a given that he will return to Deepdale.
Moyes said: “We won’t make a decision until certainly after Brighton. I’m in regular contact with Peter Ridsdale and Paul Heckingbottom at Preston – I’m on the phone to them every couple of days about it – but we’ll wait and see how things go.
“He’s not looked out of place in the Premier League. That’s the biggest compliment I could give Harrison.”
