Everton have completed the signing of former Leicester City winger Demarai Gray from Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.
In a deal worth around £ 1.7 million, the Premier League winner signed a three-year deal at Goodison Park.
Gray will then be under contract with the club until the end of the 2023-24 season, with Everton having an option to extend it for another year.
The 25-year-old joins Andros Townsend and goalkeeper Asmir Begovic as the first to arrive ahead of the 2021-22 season under new manager Rafael Benitez.
– Everton (@Everton) July 22, 2021
“I am delighted to be back in the Premier League at such a great club and excited to play with the team and get to work,” Gray told Everton TV.
“Speaking with the manager and [Director of Football] Marcel Brands, I had a great feeling for the Club and I feel this is a place where I can continue to grow.
The coach, with his ambitions and what he has won in the past, is important and we will try to move forward and compete with the top clubs. I think a club of this magnitude has all the potential to be right there.
Everton are a very big club and the main objective is to push and compete again in the standings.
“I want to work hard on the training ground and work hard for the club on the pitch.”
Gray, who will wear Everton’s number 11 shirt, spent only six months in Germany and made 12 appearances for Leverkusen, scoring once.
He joined Benitez’s team in Florida prior to Everton’s participation in the Florida Cup.
Everton should have faced Arsenal or Inter Milan after playing against Colombian side Millonarios, but the Gunners and Serie A champions withdrew from the competition due to coronavirus problems.