Demarai Gray moves to Everton! He returns to England after six months

Twenty-five-year-old English winger Demarai Gray is moving back to the Isles after just six months at Bundesliga side Leverkusen. His next employer will be Everton. The Toffees have paid €2 million for the Albion youth international.

Gray started his football career in Birmingham’s academy. He played 78 games for the Blues first team and his good performances earned him a move to the Premier League. In January 2016, the then upcoming English champions paid 5 million euros for him.

At Leicester City, however, he failed to live up to the expectations that everyone had placed on him and always paid rather like a joker. He mainly benefited from the lack of quality in the wing spaces in the Foxes’ current squad.

Even so, he managed to play 169 games and score 13 goals in his five years with the club. In addition, he was a member of the championship team, hence his Premier League winner’s medal.

Earlier this year, with great expectations, he was bought by Bayern Leverkusen for 2 million euros. However, by some twist of fate, he could not fit into the plans of this German club, so they sent him back to England for the same price. This time to Everton.

Gray has signed a contract until 2024 and Everton hold an optional option for another year. He becomes the Toffees’ third signing this year, after another English winger Andros Townsend and veteran goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

Everton are undergoing a major squad purge so far this summer. A lot of unnecessary players are being released from their contracts or going elsewhere as free agents.

This is the case of Joshua King and Theo Walcott, who have failed to make a name for themselves and so are leaving the club for free after a short spell. Others include Bernardo, Muhamed Besic and Yannick Bolasie.

Source: Transfermarkt