£70k-a-week Everton player is set to leave in last few days of the transfer window

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It feels like, despite strengthening the squad quite significantly, Everton are still quite some distance away from where they want to be.

After all, despite the Toffees being just two games into the new Premier League season, their squad’s glaring deficiencies have already been laid bare.

Something has to change, but Sean Dyche and Kevin Thelwell are in the unenviable position where they have to rely on things to happen elsewhere before they can make their next move.

At last, some fortune might be set to shine down on them in that regard.

Mason Holgate and one other player to leave Everton this summer

The latest on the future of two Everton players once again comes courtesy of journalist Graeme Bailey, who exclusively told Everton.News that Mason Holgate will likely leave the club by the conclusion of this summer.

For fans, this felt like an inevitability, but there were fears that their lack of funds might drive Dyche to include him in his plans for the new season.

However, opting to hand Roman Dixon his senior debut ahead of the £70k-a-week struggler on Saturday spoke volumes, and only further reinforces Bailey’s claims.

He noted: ‘I’d imagine from that we’d see someone like Mason Holgate go out. I’d expect Holgate to go out.

‘Holgate I think is going to go. Obviously, there was that confusion at the weekend about him being booed which wasn’t the player, it was the substitution.

‘I expect him to go.’

Then, moving on to another exit-linked Everton star, Bailey continued: ‘Maupay is one of them. He’s a squad player. If he’s around he’ll be in the squad, if someone wants him then he can go. I think he’s one of them that he might go. They don’t mind him massively.’

This claim came just before it was revealed that Neal Maupay was in talks to leave Everton, suggesting there is credence to both of these claims.

Everton need to sell so they can buy

Holgate and Maupay make up two of a large contingent of players with no real long-term future at the club, with Dyche and Thelwell potentially even two to consider in that category.

After all, both of their contracts are up next summer.

Fortunately, so too is Michael Keane’s, who has stolen a wage from Everton for seven years now despite never really living up to the initial hype.

With the signing of Asmir Begovic, it’s now expected that Joao Virginia will depart, however this represents a short-term strategy that is heavily reliant on Jordan Pickford.

Meanwhile, both Ashley Young and Seamus Coleman are expected to leave next summer as well, at 35 and 39 years old respectively.

The lack of sell-on value from these veterans will likely have little impact on their budget though; not like if they somehow sold Keane, Holgate and Maupay before the window slams shut.