Everyone at Everton will be working relentlessly today, in an effort to ensure that the first team ends the summer window in the strongest possible position.
Kevin Thelwell is chief among them, having already endured a long and arduous summer laden with plenty of successes, but just as many failures.
The latter have largely not been his fault though, but instead simply the restrictions that have become commonplace around Goodison Park in recent years.
In an effort to disperse this dark cloud which looms over the Merseyside club, planning for the future has become of paramount importance to the Toffees.
That effort is set to once again be rewarded now.
Everton set to complete first deadline day deal
Everton’s latest transfer conquest, which seems to have bore fruit, comes courtesy of journalist Foday Manneh, who actually offers a surprise update of a signing that has gone under the radar.
After all, the acquisition of a 18-year-old is seldom something that will be of interest to Dyche, with such a young and inexperienced player unlikely to earn their breakthrough anytime soon.
Alas, it marks a huge step up for Francis Gomez, the player in question, set to move from his home country of Gambia to join up with the Toffees’ U18s.
A highly-regarded player, already well-respected across his nation for his footballing talents, the journalist wrote on X: ‘‘Francis Gomez is set to sign a contract with English Premier League side @Everton and will join the U18 team of the club. The youngster is one of the highly-rated talents from mainland.’
Kevin Thelwell engineering a youthful revolution at Everton
With both the senior squad and the teams below, Thelwell has made great strides towards forging a brighter, more youth-focused future at Everton.
And about time.
After all, whilst Farhad Moshiri was calling the shots, their recruitment policy was scattergun at best, with older players commanding huge wages a welcome addition at Goodison Park.
So many were happy to move to Merseyside, collect their money, and underperform consistently. Eventually, it had to stop.
When Thelwell arrived, the hope was that he might be the man to usher in this revolution.
That’s certainly been the case.
Far from flawless, but still working veritable miracles under such financial restrictions, he has reduced the wage bill significantly and performed miracles to reduce the average age of the senior squad whilst identifying youth talent for their U18s and U21s too.
Gomez is just the latest in a long line of shrewd signings, where the risk is minimal, but the potential upside is limitless.
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