Everton confirm £8m Al-Ettifaq departure

Everton have finally confirmed the sale of Demarai Gray to Al-Ettifaq after a summer of speculation around a move away.

Gray, 27, had been linked with a move away to Crystal Palace and Leicester this summer, but there was always a real possibility of completing a move away to Saudi Arabia.

There was interest from the start of the summer window from the Middle East and now he will link up with former Liverpool captains Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard.

Whilst Everton confirmed the sale with an ‘undisclosed fee’ other reports have stated that the fee is £8m for the former Leicester winger.

Other reports have confirmed he has joined on a four-year-deal and that Gerrard played a pivotal role in securing the signing.

Gray arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021 for a fee of £1.7m and went onto play 75 times, scoring 12 times, assisting six and was one of the club’s key players during their relegation escape last season.

His four goals were key in helping the club avoid relegation and he started 27 times playing a variety of positions across the frontline for both Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche.

Furthermore, he also netted Everton’s goal of the season with a stunning strike against Manchester City in a vital 1-1 draw under Lampard.

His departure is Everton’s 11th of the summer, with Moise Kean (Juventus) Alex Iwobi (Fulham) Tom Cannon (Leicester City) Ellis Simms (Coventry) and Niels Nkounkou (Frankfurt) all being sold for around £63m (€73.50m).

They also allowed Tom Davies, Yerry Mina, Asmir Begovic, Andros Townsend and Jean-Philippe Gbamin to leave the club as free agents.