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.
