As Everton's players returned from their summer break on Monday they could have been forgiven for thinking little had changed since last season's dramatic conclusion.
A new sponsor adorned their training tops and there was a new teammate to meet at the Finch Farm training complex. But there was little evidence to suggest much else had happened while they had been away.
Yet while those Blues stars had enjoyed holidays, off-season fitness regimes and, for some, international duty, things had been far from quiet. Finch Farm and Goodison Park may have fallen relatively silent, but the club's Liver Building HQ had been a hive of activity and the rumour mill surrounding the Toffees had been in overdrive.
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June proved almost as chaotic as the final weeks of last season for the Blues. After the players broke for the summer having secured Premier League survival in the penultimate game of the season, Everton fans have watched as their club has been engulfed in controversy and speculation.
Chief among the off-the-field talking points is a takeover plot that is in danger of developing into a protracted saga. What began as talks over securing financing for the completion of the new stadium project at Bramley-Moore appear to have escalated into a genuine conversation about majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri handing control to a US consortium led by former Chelsea and Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon and including real estate tycoon Maciek Kaminski and mining and investment magnate John Thornton.
On Friday, sources close to Moshiri insisted any potential deal was dead - a claim disputed by the potential investors. While the two sides offer contrasting opinions, both supporters and those in charge of taking Everton forward on the pitch deserve clarity as they prepare for a season in which another relegation battle must be avoided. What added to the confusion was the timing of the emergence of news of the discussions, coming just days after Moshiri issued a public statement confirming his commitment to the Blues.
That statement was a significant move, breaking the silence by those at the top of the club's hierarchy at a time when fans were demanding answers after the club's Premier League status was placed in such jeopardy despite around half a billion pounds of transfer spending in the six-and-a-half years since Moshiri first invested in Everton.
Moshiri wrote: "Mistakes have been made and for that I want to apologise to all of you. It has not been good enough and we need to do better. You have given us incredible support that helped us over the line when we most needed it, and we must repay that support and show that lessons have been learnt... I am committed to securing the future success of the club by delivering a fully funded stadium that will underpin our status as a leading club. Our new stadium project at Bramley-Moore Dock has reached an exciting and landmark stage as it emerges from the ground, with the four main cores now in place."
After the takeover talks emerged Moshiri continued to insist he was committed to delivering the stadium and that remains his position according to sources close to him. Whether discussions resume after the July 4 holiday in the US remains to be seen. If they do, the current delay could impact the reported hopes of the Kaminski bid to have a deal agreed in time for Everton's appearance in the Kaminski family's base in Minnesota on July 20.
Any takeover would not alter Everton's profit and sustainability position as the Premier League continue to pay close attention to the club's finances after three consecutive loss-making years totalling more than £370m. The club is insistent it has operated within regulations and received a boost last week as it emerged Leeds United and Burnley had dropped the threat of legal action in relation to those issues.
The £60m package agreed for the sale of Richarlison to Tottenham Hotspur last week is also expected to bolster Everton's position, with the deal concluded in time for it to be included within the annual set of accounts that ended last week. Club bosses are said to have been left furious by a £40m bid for the Brazil star tabled by Spurs at 4pm on June 30 - seen as an attempt to take advantage of Everton's desire to agree a sale before midnight. Despite that, a deal was eventually agreed though negotiations are said to have damaged the relationship between the two clubs.
Everton's need for pragmatism has been a characteristic of the summer so far. Lampard had spoken of his desire to keep hold of his stars but the sale of a key player appeared likely due to the club's flirtation with the financial regulations. The same issues formed the backdrop to the club's new main sponsorship deal with gambling company Stake.com. The length and size of the contract has not been revealed, but Everton said it amounts to the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in the club's history so will top the previous record of roughly £10m-a-year.
Confirmation of the deal came just over two years after chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale accepted at a club AGM that “in an ideal world” Everton would have a different type of sponsor than a gambling firm. At that meeting Professor Barrett-Baxendale added the approach taken by the club would always be a "commercial decision", however, and Everton entered an arrangement with a different gambling firm as recently as December.
Last season, 10 of the 20 Premier League clubs had a gambling company as their main shirt sponsor - including Watford, which had a deal with Stake.com. Concerns over the nature of the deal have been expressed by sections of the fanbase though and more than 20,000 people have since signed a petition calling on the club to perform a U-turn. Separately, the club's commercial department has also struck up a deal with British watch brand Christopher Ward as Everton’s Official Global Timing Partner as it continues to find new business.
Pictures from the return of the players to Finch Farm showed two of the summer's biggest changes as the players started training in kit featuring the new sponsor - and as they met new signing James Tarkowski. The centre back's arrival is pivotal to Lampard's ambition of making his squad more "robust". More incomings are expected as Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell continue their efforts to improve the squad. Interest has cooled on Spurs midfielder Harry Winks but the club remain active and talks have taken place with representatives of Jesse Lingard following his exit from Manchester United while Lampard is likely to try to exploit his relationship with former club Chelsea in the hope of securing the services of one of their young stars on loan. Of those who could be available he gave two - Billy Gilmour and Armando Broja - their first team debuts while he was the manager at Stamford Bridge.
Everton remain open to interest in a number of their contracted players as part of attempts to overhaul the squad and last week saw the club's deals with Fabian Delph, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Cenk Tosun and Jonjoe Kenny expire. Combined with the conclusion of Donny van de Beek's loan from Manchester United, more than £400,000-a-week is understood to have been removed from the wage bill. Kenny rejected a new deal and has since signed for Hertha Berlin while Tosun has agreed a deal with former club Besiktas.
Changes at Finch Farm continued in the absence of the players as more of the findings of the club's strategic review of football operations were implemented. The scrutiny process was launched late last year with the hope of bringing about improvements that will underpin sustainable, long-term progress on the pitch. Gareth Prosser has been appointed the new academy director, Paul Tait the U21s head coach and Leighton Baines the U18s boss. Searches for a new head of academy coaching, player development lead coach, loan pathways manager and head of performance analysis and insights are also underway as part of a technical overhaul being led by Thelwell, whose office is opposite that of Lampard. Crucially, both men are said to get on well - which has not always been the case between the manager of director of football in recent years.
While a number of major appointments were made in June, one of the most significant changes of the summer so far was announced on Monday evening. The departure of Everton legend Duncan Ferguson was confirmed by the club, with the first team assistant manager leaving to pursue his ambition of becoming a manager. Upon leaving, Ferguson praised Lampard and said the manager had sought to retain him.
How the players found out the news is unclear but if they had been under any illusion it had been a quiet few weeks at Everton in their absence, that belief will have been shattered within hours of their return. And as the squad heads into a truncated pre-season due to the winter World Cup, the next month is likely to see further changes on and off the pitch.
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