It has been a long summer. Takeover speculation, transfer business, open letters to supporters and more - yes more - injuries conspired to keep Everton in the headlines even at a time when the world of football typically drifts into a post-season lull.
The intrigue continued into the final minutes as the Blues sought one final addition to boost Frank Lampard's forward options but the transfer window ended with outgoings - loan deals that took Andre Gomes to Lille and Lewis Warrington to Fleetwood Town - rather than a ninth arrival.
Only time will tell us whether this window, Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell's first together, has been a success. But with the dust still settling it does feel like a summer in which positives have emerged.
READ MORE: Inside Everton's transfer window after eight signings, two 'sagas' and one brutal turning point
READ MORE: Everton defender James Tarkowski sends Darwin Nunez message ahead of Liverpool clash
Perhaps more welcome than any of the new players has been the emergence of a wider strategy underpinning business. For too long, Everton have lurched between managers and directors of football, lavishing hundreds of millions of pounds on a mish-mash of players, styles and visions. While the excess of the early years under majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri's rule had calmed over the past two transfer windows, the result was still the broken machine inherited by Lampard earlier this year. This was a squad that did not just need the physical and psychological break of the summer after last season's relegation battle. It was a squad that needed rebuilding.
That process was never going to be completed in three months but serious issues have been addressed. In Conor Coady, James Tarkowski and Idrissa Gana Gueye, Everton have assembled a robust and richly experienced spine for an outlay of around just £2m in transfer fees.
In James Garner and Amadou Onana, Lampard has two 21-year-old central midfield talents who not only have the potential to form a partnership Everton’s long-term future could be built around, but with Gueye, the impressively versatile Alex Iwobi, Tom Davies and Abdoulaye Doucoure around there is cover that can allow Onana, Garner and starlet Lewis Warrington, when he returns to the squad, to be protected as they grow.
Dwight McNeil’s experience in the top flight is vast for his young age and he displayed maturity and discipline in the defensive side of his game that was crucial in holding onto the vital point at Leeds United. Everton supporters are yet to see Neal Maupay in action but he is a proven Premier League forward who can complement and compete with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, while Ruben Vinagre is an astute signing that provides further depth in a season in which it will be more necessary than ever.
Experience, potential that is bubbling to the surface, resilience and leadership are attributes that run through the summer transfer business. Would another forward have helped? Almost certainly, particularly in the wake of the sale of Richarlison and the recent injury record of Calvert-Lewin. But even in not signing a forward late in the window, a positive can be taken. Lampard said he did not want to sign players through a ‘scattergun’ approach or simply for the sake of it. That itself feels like progress - the club pulling back from an expensive, panicked late deal.
Everton are yet to win in the club’s opening five games of the Premier League season. They are underdogs in their next two - against Liverpool and Arsenal. But even if things appear to get worse before they get better, patience is essential. There does appear to be a plan. And it is one that makes sense.
READ NEXT:
- Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch slams 'terrible' Frank Lampard tactic during Everton draw
- Everton analysis - Frank Lampard signings set example as system change pays off
- 'If I'm honest' - Frank Lampard makes Neal Maupay claim and assesses Everton transfer chances
- Farhad Moshiri must deliver on promise as Everton transfer truth leaves Frank Lampard stranded
- 'Good for him' - Frank Lampard gives clear Anthony Gordon transfer verdict after latest Everton goal
