The coming weeks and months could determine Everton’s fate.

Demarai Gray now appears likely to stay at Goodison Park until at least January after Everton seemingly put a stop to his long-rumored move.

Gray will stay an Everton player, according to Sky Sports reporter Alan Myers, who posted the news on his personal Twitter account on September 1st. Gray was expected to depart the club during the summer.

With the window closed in England, the club would be unable to recruit a replacement for the Jamaican international, therefore despite the fact that Saudi Arabian clubs still have a week to complete deals, this one will not happen.

Myers tweeted: “Demarai Gray will be staying at Everton, despite an offer from a Saudi Arabian club.”

Also in a response to an Everton fan’s question on whether the Toffees would reject any incoming offers from Saudi clubs for Gray’s signature, Myers confirmed that Everton will indeed continue to put their foot down on any potential approach.

He tweeted in response to the question: “That’s what I understand to be the case.”

Not only were Saudi Arabian clubs interested in Gray’s talents in the last days of the summer window, but Ligue 1 club LOSC Lille also made a last-minute deadline day bid (L’Équipe, 1 September).

According to L’Equipe journalist Romain Lafont (1 September), the Toffees changed their minds about allowing Gray to leave for France, writing on Twitter, “Everton made an about-face at the start of the evening regarding Demarai Gray, which is why the Jamaican was not loaned out to Lille.”

Gray appeared to have left the team at least two weeks ago, and there appeared to be no way for him to return.

Gray missed Everton training for three days in a row, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, since he only wanted to join Fulham but could not reach a deal with the club.

Fast forward a few weeks, and the former Leicester City man is still an Everton player, perhaps at a crossroads in his career due to the club’s decision on his future.

The Toffees’ stance is understandable after failing to sign a third offensive winger this summer, with Leeds United forward Wilfried Gnonto a key target, following deals for Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison.

And Alex Iwobi’s deadline-day departure to Fulham underlines that point.

But how Sean Dyche will attempt to navigate through an unhappy player in the Goodison Park camp remains to be seen.

In 2021, the former Leicester City player was signed from Bayer Leverkusen for just £1.7 million. However, his two years at the club have not been without incident, with Everton surviving relegation in successive seasons and his lack of starts under Dyche.

With the way Everton’s season has started, Dyche may be forced to make a drastic u-turn and turn to Gray, whose undeniable game-changing powers in attack might prove essential in reviving their catastrophic start to the season with three straight defeats.

Previously dubbed “inspirational” by Martin Keown, the Everton winger possesses tremendous pace and creativity that can cause havoc for any defense, averaging 1.2 critical passes, 1.7 shots on goal, and one successful dribble per game last season.

Gray may have felt his time at Everton had come to an end, but things don’t always go as planned in sport. Who knows, this could be the turning point in Gray’s career at Goodison Park, but a January exit is certainly not out of the question.

The coming weeks and months could determine his fate.

In other Everton news, the Toffees launched a last-minute massive attempt to sign one former Premier League winger on transfer deadline day and were met with a fast response.

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