Four new contracts have been signed and one player has confirmed his departure as Everton head into a crucial summer rebuilding project.
Asmir Begovic and three Under-23 players have committed to the club in recent weeks while Cenk Tosun has revealed his plans to leave Merseyside. Questions exist over the future of several other players - as well as the club's financial ability in terms of recruitment.
Meanwhile two Brazil stars - Richarlison and Allan - have been speaking about their Blues careers as speculation mounts over what will happen during a summer in which Frank Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell will be given their first opportunity to shape the squad.
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Conversations about recruitment were well underway before the end of the season but hampered by uncertainty over Everton's Premier League status. The consequence of a disastrous season in which it took until the penultimate game to confirm the Blues' survival will have set the club weeks behind rivals who could approach the final month of the campaign knowing top flight football was guaranteed. It also would have had an impact on negotiations with the club's soon-to-be-announced new shirt sponsor, with the finer details of the deal with Cazoo's replacement likely to have been linked to whether Everton would be a Premier League club.
On the pitch, Lampard has been clear in his belief improvements are necessary and that discussions with Thelwell, who he is said to get on well with, were underway before the dramatic comeback against Crystal Palace sealed survival.
Their approach this summer appears to be focused on three strands - recruitment, making the most of the coaching staff's first pre-season with the squad, and keeping hold of key players.
In relation to recruitment, Lampard is determined to make his side more robust after Everton's season was blighted by injuries. He has also hinted he would like to adopt more progressive tactics after ending the season with a pragmatic approach that often saw Everton defend deep, concede possession and seek to hit sides on the counter attack as the threat of relegation loomed.
He said after the Palace game: "... if we want to start playing a bit better between the lines, that starts from the back, and so we will look at all those things and through the middle of the pitch about how we can work because that's always the first thing and then maybe how we can add and improve."
With the most severe injury issues of his reign having been suffered in defence - both Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey long-term absences over the final third of the season - and a change in style on the cards, Lampard and Thelwell are likely to be on the hunt for a centre back to complement the squad.
Explaining his views on recruitment before the summer break, he said: "Can we make the squad stronger and more balanced? I believe we can. We will look at everything in that way and it is important we look at it quickly... we have Kevin Thelwell now and we have the board that are interested in trying to get the best out of this club. We don't want to be here next year but we understand if we don't make positive moves it is possible. So we will be ready to move on that quickly."
Key to any foray into the transfer market is Everton's financial situation. While the club is adamant it is in compliance with Premier League profit and sustainability regulations and officials say there is room for some money to be spent without rules being breached, this summer is expected to continue the theme of recent windows.
That will mean searching for value in the market and targeting young and hungry players and Lampard is expected to investigate whether he can exploit his close links with Chelsea, where he played and managed, in the hope of attracting young stars to Everton. The former England international has a reputation for trusting and developing youth talent and gave Billy Gilmour and Armando Broja, who both went on loan to Premier League clubs last season, their senior debuts while he was their boss at Stamford Bridge. Both are among a number of highly thought of players, including Conor Gallagher and centre back Levi Colwill, who may struggle to break into Chelsea's first team next season and consider another loan.
With stability seen as crucial and the club eager to avoid a second season flirting with danger, more experienced players who are thought to be good value and capable of improving the squad in the short term will not be ruled out. There are compelling reasons for Everton to be interested in James Tarkowski, Burnley's out-of-contract centre back, though several other Premier League outfits are also believed to be vying for his signature. The lengths the Blues are willing to go to should a bidding war for his services break out may be the first test of the new approach identified by the strategic review, much-heralded by the club as an effort to learn from the mistakes that saw £500m of transfer fees and a meteoric rise in the wage bill under majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri almost end in relegation.
That review emphasised the importance of the club developing its own stars. Changes at the academy, including the decision to split the departed David Unsworth's job into two roles - academy director and U23s head coach - are part of an effort to improve the pathway to the first team, as is the plan to have all development sides playing in the same way. Applications have closed for those two jobs and the club has been impressed with the quantity and quality of those who have put their names forward, which include staff at other Premier League setups.
What happens at Finch Farm over the summer will be key, with Lampard having highlighted pre-season as the first opportunity for his coaching staff to work with the players outside the relentless pressure of the league schedule.
This view was backed up by first team coach Paul Clement, who told talkSPORT this week: "We really want a good pre-season, we went in in the middle of the season fighting fire, you don’t get to train how you want, implement ideas like you want, it was all about results as soon as possible. This [pre-season] will give us a little bit more time to instil the ideas the manager wants and we’ve got to improve in lots of areas."
The turnover of current players will have a significant influence on the transfer dealings at Everton this summer. Tosun's disappointing four-and-a-half year spell will come to an end when his contract expires this summer, the striker already having announced his intention to leave. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fabian Delph, Andy Lonergan and Jonjoe Kenny are also out of contract. The club is expected to publish its retained list in the second week of June.
So far only Begovic, whose contract was extended near the end of the season, has been confirmed as staying with several of the others likely to depart. Of the U23s side Zan-Luk Leban and Sebastian Quirk signed one year extensions last week and Lewis Warrington penned a two year deal after his successful loan spell at Tranmere Rovers.
Close attention will be paid to the Scotland national side, which faces four games in a fortnight, after Nathan Patterson's call-up. The right back has been out since the beginning of April and is yet to play in the Premier League for Everton after signing from Rangers in January. He will miss the first of those games, a World Cup qualifier with Ukraine, but his condition and performances may be key to Everton assessing whether they need to strengthen in that position, which could impact discussions with Kenny.
Everton are likely to be willing to listen to offers for a number of squad players under contract, though will have to accept some may not attract attention and factor them into next season's plans as a result. It may be a summer of compromise rather than revolution, with next summer holding more potential for wholesale changes to the squad.
Of the players who have spoken about their future, Allan has been linked with a return to Serie A but reportedly said this week he believes he will remain at Everton.
The most significant unknown for Everton's summer is the fate of key players including Jordan Pickford, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin - the later two both heavily linked with moves away from L4 recently.
Richarlison told Globo Esporte this week: “I’ve already made it clear to the board, I’ve already talked to Lampard too, with my agents and they know what I want. Let’s wait for June. Now I can’t talk, because when we talk about leaving a club I’m kind of like this, because of the history I have at Everton, the affection that the fans have for me, when we talk about leaving I’m a little speechless."
The terms of those discussions will likely take some time before they become public but Lampard has been clear about his priorities this summer and his plans for next season.
He said in the final weeks of the campaign: "If I had my way, let me keep players that perform really well for the club then we can try and get as far forward as we can."
