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Jack Grealish is making his way back to football after a stress fracture in his foot wiped out the second half of his 2025-26 season. The England international, who was on loan at Everton from Manchester City, went down in January 2026 and required surgery that kept him sidelined for months.
The injury and the long road back
Grealish sustained the stress fracture during a match while playing for Everton on loan. Surgery followed shortly after, and Everton manager David Moyes confirmed that the injury would likely rule Grealish out for the remainder of the campaign.
By late April 2026, there were encouraging signs. Grealish’s surgeon reported strong progress at his 10-week post-operative check, suggesting the bone was healing well and the timeline was tracking as expected.
World Cup implications and what comes next
The timing of Grealish’s injury was particularly cruel given the broader calendar. The 2026 World Cup looms large for every English player with international ambitions, and missing an entire half-season of competitive football is not exactly the ideal audition tape for a spot in the squad.
He was a fan favorite during Euro 2020 and featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but his inconsistent playing time at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola has made his international future a perpetual talking point. A strong loan spell at Everton was supposed to answer some of those questions. Instead, the stress fracture created new ones.
The crypto connection: OKX and athlete endorsements
Grealish has served as a global ambassador for OKX, the crypto exchange, participating in promotional events since 2023. It’s one of the higher-profile athlete-crypto partnerships in football, sitting alongside the broader trend of digital asset platforms sponsoring teams, stadiums, and individual players.
For traders and analysts who try to gauge the impact of high-profile endorsements on exchange activity or token sentiment, Grealish’s absence is a useful data point. The crypto industry has poured enormous sums into sports sponsorships over the past few years, from stadium naming rights to jersey deals to individual ambassador contracts.
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