Everton have not been a club synonymous with making wise business decisions recently, but ever since Kevin Thelwell joined, that has been a shifting narrative.
Instead of buying older players and signing them to long, lucrative contracts, he has sought to refresh their transfer model by largely opting for a youth-focused recruitment policy.
Recent years have seen Amadou Onana, James Garner, Dwight McNeil, Youssef Chermiti and Tim Iroegbunam all signed when aged 23 or younger, and thus far the bulk of these have thrived.
Age is no barrier for technical and physical brilliance, and that is what has largely been exhibited at Goodison Park across the last two years, where they have made the biggest steps away from relegation dogfights.
However, one of the starring members of this youthful contingent has now left, leaving a huge vacancy for Thelwell to once again fill.
Amadou Onana leaves Everton for Aston Villa
It always felt inevitable that at least one major sale would be required this summer, if Everton were to keep the books balanced.
However, their desperation to retain Jarrad Branthwaite almost made it inevitable that their Belgian midfield powerhouse would instead be the one to go.
With Onana having moved to Aston Villa officially, Sean Dyche will lose an aggressive conductor from his midfield, who was both adept in breaking up the play and progressing his team up the pitch when the opportunity arose.
A fine acquisition and a solid piece of business, selling him on just two years after signing for a £50m fee, this is exactly how Everton should be operating.
However, whilst many might suggest that the Toffees have now entered a desperate scramble to source a replacement, that simply is not the case.
After all, Dyche’s side arguably played their best football when Idrissa Gueye took Onana’s place towards the end of the season, and now with Iroegbunam as ample backup, the depth in the engine room remains largely the same.
Instead, they might be better off reinvesting a large chunk, or even all of the fee gained, into a different player to solve their biggest issue.
Everton should reinvest it all into Richarlison transfer
It is no shock to claim that Everton’s outstanding problem during last season was their lack of clinical finishing.
After all, no club in the Premier League even came close to enduring a bigger disparity between their actual goals scored (40) and their expected goals (60.75), a whopping 20.75.
This is mainly down to the floundering form of Beto and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but with wingers failing to chip in and Abdoulaye Doucoure struggling for form and fitness, nothing really went their way.
However, when something similar was occurring during the 2021/22 season, they had one man step up and save them from the drop, having promised to do so before delivering with emphasis.
Richarlison is an Everton hero, and remains as such despite his 2022 move to Tottenham Hotspur. After all, he has admitted on numerous occasions his love for the club, explicitly saying as much just after exiting.
But, despite attesting that he will not leave north London this summer, alternative reports are suggesting that the Lilywhites will consider bids for the Brazilian, who has failed to justify his £60m price tag thus far.
Perhaps Everton might benefit from bringing him back to Goodison Park, especially now that Spurs don’t have any European football, and rely on him to be the catalyst that reignites their attacking prowess.
The £90k-a-week attacker, capable of playing all across the front, recorded 14, 16, ten and 15 goal contributions in four respective Premier League campaigns on Merseyside, in teams far worse than Dyche’s current one.
A hard-working and technically remarkable footballer, Richarlison’s return might revolutionise this squad and turn them into a real threat, and his signing would be almost completely funded by Onana’s sale.
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