'Better than I thought' - Moyes lauds maverick Grealish after win

Moments after the full-time whistle at Molineux, Jack Grealish bolted over an advertising hoarding and made his way towards Everton's jubilant fans.

Grealish was mobbed like a rock star, screaming fans stretching to get a touch of the player who had just registered another two assists to once again inspire his new club to victory.

He must have forgotten what moments like this were like as he spent chunks of last season sat on Manchester City's bench.

Grealish has gone from forgotten man to main man in double-quick time since joining Everton on a season-long loan.

After both assists in the 2-0 win over Brighton last weekend, he followed it up with another man-of-the-match display in Everton's 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He is the first Everton player to assist two or more goals in consecutive Premier League appearances for the Toffees.

Grealish has not appeared for England since Thomas Tuchel took charge at the start of the year. He has been left out his latest squad for World Cup qualifiers against Andorra, which is take place at his former club Aston Villa, and Serbia.

"There's no doubt I am a big fan of Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Jack Grealish," said England boss Tuchel on Friday when addressing questions about why the two players were not included.

"Big players and big personalities, always in the mix. I know both are desperate but in this camp we decided for Reece James and Tino Livramento and in Jack's position, Rashy [Marcus Rashford] and Ebs [Eberechi Eze]. The competition is up."

With the tournament starting next June, does Grealish - who has 39 caps and four goals for his country - still have time to force his way into Tuchel's World Cup plans?

'He needs a bit of love and attention'

Jack Grealish is the first Everton player to assist two or more goals in consecutive Premier League appearances for the club

Grealish started just seven Premier League matches last season.

He looks a player reborn wearing the blue of Everton after appearing from the start in two of his new team's first three.

As well as two assists in an action-packed display at Wolves, Grealish was denied a goal by Jose Sa while he had 60 touches, made 35 passes and finished the game with a passing accuracy of 91.4%.

The former Villa man also won his side seven free-kicks on his return to the West Midlands.

"He is even better than I thought," said Everton boss David Moyes afterwards.

"He probably needs a bit of love and attention. He needs the games as well.

"Hopefully he starts building on it and he gets even better as the season goes on.

"He is making a big difference. Whether it is his assists, his presence, lots of things.

"So all credit to him. He is playing the minutes he may not have had in recent years.

"You know, he's so good. What Jack gives us is something just on the edge, which, hopefully it's on the edge of creativeness and maybe scoring goals."

Asked about his upturn in form, Moyes replied: "It's nothing to do with me, let me tell you - it's all to do with Jack and his own mentality to be better.

"There's a wee bit to prove, I'm sure - I think we all have. I think in life, you've always got something you have to strive to do.

"And I think Jack wants to show that he's a good player. I think he's showing it at the moment."

Grealish created goals for Beto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Molineux

'Grealish is a maverick'

In the past two Premier League campaigns while out of favour at Manchester City, Grealish provided two assists in total.

Three games into the new season, he already has four.

At the start of this summer, Moyes demanded that "elite players" were recruited by the club to match their "elite new stadium".

The arrival of Grealish has more than satisfied that mandate.

As well as his four assists in the past two games, he was heavily involved in the move for Iliman Ndiaye's goal which put Everton 2-1 ahead at Wolves.

The focal point of Everton's attack, the 29-year-old is already flourishing under Moyes.

Four assists in 2025-26 is already the second most of any Everton player since the start of last season, despite Grealish having played more than 1,000 minutes less than Dwight McNeil in first.

"We often talk about not having mavericks in the team. Jack Grealish is a maverick, but he can play in a system and he can work hard for the team," former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Sport.

"The home fans last week at the new stadium were on their feet because he was battling for everything - he's got that side in him as well."

Former Liverpool, Tottenham and Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy added on BBC Match of the Day: "The forward line was creative and brave. Not just Jack, and the Everton fans must be loving it."

This time last year Grealish, who left Aston Villa for City in 2021 for a British record £100m, was getting ready to play for his country.

He scored the second goal in a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin when Lee Carsley was interim boss.

Since then he has made just two appearances for the Three Lions.

Will he be on board the plane that heads to the World Cup next summer?