According to The Times reporter Paul Joyce, the conversations have gathered pace as Everton weighs the cost of taking on a player whose weekly wages stand at £300,000 [$403,470], a figure City hopes to recover almost in full over the course of a season-long loan worth around £12m [$16m].

Jack Grealish faces little future with Manchester City under Pep Guardiola but one of their Premier League rivals could offer the England man an escape route from the Etihad Stadium