The more positive stories at Everton this close season have been the near-silent acquisitions of four players by manager David Moyes.
Three pretty much unknown quantities for the English game and another potential surprise from a big club.
We’ll start from the front and work backwards, as we first take a look at the most well-known of the quartet – Jermaine Beckford.
The 26-year-old forward has been banging the goals in for a while in the lower leagues and the Blues boss decided to take a chance when Beckford decided to run his Leeds United contract down.
With 72 goals in 126 league appearances for the Whites, the former RAC windscreen fitter blazed a trail and attracted the interest of clubs high up the league ladder.
He has signed a four-year-deal at Goodison and has already scored his first goals in a blue shirt, with a brace in a pre-season friendly against Preston North End.
He has pace to burn, he’s 6ft 2in and can finish. Whether or not his work ethic can be question is another thing as Leeds fans did notice his increased efforts against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in last season’s FA Cup run.
Joao Silva is an exciting forward who was brought in for an undisclosed fee from Portuguese Liga de Honra side Desportivo das Aves.
He turned 20 in May and joined the club a month later after his first season as a professional ended with him as top scorer in the Portuguese second tier with 14 goals.
He is well thought of in his own country and Everton stole a march on the Portuguese giants Porto, Benfica and Sporting to bring him to the Premier League.
He has time to develop and he will be better judged after adjusting to the English way of life in 12 months.
Magaye Gueye is another relatively unknown forward, but has represented France at four levels below full international.
Another one with time on his side – again at 20-years-old – he was recruited by Moyes from recently relegated Strasbourg who are now in the French Championnat – the third tier.
He has also already settled in by finding the net, in the club’s recent tour of Australia scoring the second goal against Brisbane Roar.
He netted nine times in 27 appearances last season with a further three assists for Le Racing.
The final member is Slovakian number one, Jan Mucha whose arrival will hopefully provide great competition for current Everton incumbent, Tim Howard.
Mucha played in each of Repre’s four World Cup matches, as they qualified runners-up in their group and knocked out holders Italy with a 3-2 victory in the final round of games.
Eventual finalists Netherlands defeated Mucha and his Slovak team-mates in the round of 16, but Mucha showed enough to suggest he will push Howard close for a starting berth.
