Five bruising days of drama have turned the attention of the footballing world to Everton as the club battles to prepare for another relegation fight.
Frank Lampard's sacking was of little surprise after a damaging run of form that left the Blues second from bottom after their second consecutive defeat to another side in the bottom three. But his departure is likely to have had some influence on the remarkable U-turn of Arnaut Danjuma, who looked set to become the club's first signing of the January transfer window but made an 11th hour switch to Tottenham Hotspur.
Director of football Kevin Thelwell is now in a race to bring in a new figurehead to rescue Everton's fortunes on the pitch. Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri's favoured candidate, Marcelo Bielsa, is among a group of leading contenders, which includes former Burnley boss Sean Dyche. Thelwell is also tasked with the job of strengthening the new manager's squad in the final days of the month despite not yet knowing who it will be, having a limited budget, and now having to deal with the fallout from Anthony Gordon's absence from training amid interest from Newcastle United.
