Everton Near Permanent Deal for Chelsea Winger Tyrique George

Everton are closing on a permanent deal for Chelsea winger Tyrique George, turning a short, sharp loan audition into a long-term commitment on Merseyside.

The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season at Goodison Park, arriving with an option to buy set at £25m. Everton have gone back to the table and reworked that agreement into a lower upfront fee structured with add-ons, a move that fits both their budget and their belief that George’s ceiling is still some way off.

He only pulled on the Everton shirt 11 times, starting just once, but those four months clearly left a mark. David Moyes saw enough in limited minutes to push hard for a permanent deal, praising George in May as “an excellent boy” with an “excellent work-rate” when pressed on his future before the final game of the campaign. The numbers were modest; the impression was not.

Now Everton are trying to move quickly. With George’s transfer nearing completion, the club are also finalising a £16m move for Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney, another young piece in a squad being quietly reshaped.

Merlin Rohl is set to stay as well. The attacking midfielder, who arrived on loan from SC Freiburg last season, did enough to convince Everton to trigger a permanent switch. At the same time, two stalwarts have gone the other way, with Idrissa Gana Gueye and Seamus Coleman departing after their contracts expired, stripping experience from the dressing room but freeing space and wages for a younger core.

George’s journey to this point has not been straightforward. A product of Chelsea’s academy, he has effectively been on the market for the past 12 months. RB Leipzig held talks with him last summer, sensing an opportunity to develop another English talent in the Bundesliga. A £22m move to Fulham then collapsed on transfer deadline day in September 2025, leaving him in limbo before Everton came calling.

Now Chelsea are ready to cash in.

Xabi Alonso’s arrival at Stamford Bridge has triggered another round of surgery on an already restless squad. The club have brought in Marco Palestra from Atalanta and are keeping tabs on Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix, Como defender Jacobo Ramon and Rayo Vallecano full-back Pep Chavarria as they look to retool the spine and the flanks.

But this is not just about recruitment. A 10th-place finish in the Premier League and the absence of European football have shrunk the fixture list and hit revenue from broadcasting and matchdays. On top of that, Chelsea remain under a Uefa settlement agreement for the next three seasons after breaching financial regulations last summer. The message is clear: the squad has to slim down, and it has to generate cash.

Player sales are no longer a possibility; they are a necessity.

Real Madrid are interested in Enzo Fernandez, a marquee name who would bring in a substantial fee. Trevoh Chalobah has admirers in Italy, with Como and Inter Milan among the clubs monitoring his situation. The futures of Benoit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana are all in the balance as Alonso and the hierarchy weigh up who fits the new project and who becomes collateral in the rebuild.

Even in attack, there are questions. Forwards Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap face uncertain paths, their names joining a growing list of players who may yet be pushed towards the exit to satisfy both tactical plans and financial demands.

For Everton, that uncertainty at Stamford Bridge has opened a door. For George, long touted, nearly moved, and repeatedly put on hold, it offers something rarer than a headline fee: a clear role, a manager who trusts him, and a club ready to bet that his brief flash of promise on Merseyside was only the start.