By Declan Walsh
Everton have agreed an £8million fee with Al-Ettifaq for the sale of Demarai Gray, according to Ben Jacobs.
The CBS Sports journalist reported via Twitter on Tuesday night (5 September) that only paperwork is left to be signed and the announcement of the deal is expected on Wednesday (6 September).
It is understood that Gray will be signing a four-year contract with Al-Ettifaq, who are managed by ex-Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard.
Exclusive: Agreement now in place between Al-Ettifaq and Everton for Demarai Gray. Only paperwork remains. Final fee is almost £8m ($10m). Gray will sign a four-year deal.
If all goes to plan Al-Ettifaq will announce Gray tomorrow.🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/WNx3IzoxcU
Good sale?
As we’ve been expecting Gray to leave Everton for Saudi Arabia over the last couple of days due to the Jamaica international childish antics on social media, it’s not a surprise to see him leave.
However, have Everton managed to get a good fee for the former Leicester attacker?
Subscribe to Football Insider TV now
Everton signed Gray from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021 for just £1.7million [Sky Sports].
In truth, that was a bargain and he’s more than repaid his worth by scoring 12 goals and supplying six assists in 75 appearances across all competitions.
And while the last two seasons have been wretched, Gray hasn’t exactly been amongst the worst-performing players as he’s always been somewhere in the middle.
Everton are now bagging a £6.3million profit on Gray, which is decent considering our financial position and how desperate Gray was to leave.
He was likely on a decent wage so clearing that off is also good news for Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright and co as it really eases up some of the pressure from FFP.
Overall, we’re glad he’s gone.
In other Everton news, this Blues player is reportedly among a “golden generation” in his country.