Everton concluded one of the most important transfer windows in the club's modern history weaker than when it started.
Every club that could get dragged into a Premier League relegation battle has spent millions in the hope of avoiding that fate. Everton spent none. The club's efforts were not without some misfortune - the remarkable last minute U-turn of winger Arnaut Danjuma, who joined Tottenham Hotspur while on the brink of committing to the Blues, was the most explosive story of January.
But despite the club entering the new year with an apparent acceptance the first team squad was in need of at least two forwards, and with majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri then reassuring supporters a striker would be signed, new manager Sean Dyche will not have any new additions ahead of his first match in charge this weekend. And with Anthony Gordon having departed - albeit in acrimonious circumstances - a club desperately in need of forwards has somehow emerged from this transfer window with even fewer attacking options.
READ MORE: Inside the 120 hours that shook Everton to the core
READ MORE: Full list of signings made by Everton rivals in January transfer window
The message was clear from November onwards. There was an acceptance Everton needed signings. The key ambition was to strengthen the attack and two forward players were deemed the priority. It was said Everton would no longer feel the need to run transfer plans via the authorities, as they had previously done on a voluntary basis amid concerns over the club's proximity to profit and sustainability limits, and while money was tight and business would have to be savvy, there was some cash available.
Speaking to the ECHO in Australia during Everton's participation in the Sydney Super Cup, Lampard said he and director of football Kevin Thelwell had a list of targets drawn up and they planned to be "calculated" in their actions. Outgoings would be important too, and the departure of Salomon Rondon in December appeared to be a clear sign the club was willing to be proactive. Lampard and those around him were always clear this would be a difficult window - January is a notoriously tough time to do business and the winter World Cup was expected to make it harder. But there was, it appeared, a plan in place.
The stage was set for a modest transfer window but all the signs pointed in the right direction - the club was seemingly aware of the issues that needed addressing and appeared to have a plan. Few alarm bells rang when Everton missed out on Matheus Cunha, the Atletico Madrid forward who was on the club's radar but was instead secured by Wolves. His goalscoring record in La Liga was questionable and the outlay - with the Midlands club committing to an eventual fee in the region of £45m - had the hallmarks of the type of expensive gamble that has caused Everton to go backwards while spending Mr Moshiri's millions.
The alarm bells did ring before the transfer window began, however. After Everton fell to a stoppage time Boxing Day defeat to then bottom of the table Wolves, fans placed hope on there being new recruits in the early days of January. Everton had struggled for goals in the opening months of the campaign and there was a perception that Dominic Calvert-Lewin's knee injury on the eve of the season had highlighted a shortage up top. His injury left the Blues without a striker Lampard felt he could trust for the first five games of the season and Neal Maupay, who made his debut after the summer window had closed, had not enjoyed a prolific start to life on Merseyside.
Some sections of the fanbase could claim, as a result, that work to identify a striker should have begun in August. Ahead of the Manchester City game, which ended in a morale-boosting draw, it was made clear no signing was expected in the opening days of the January window and the club's opening gambit was instead to bring back young striker Ellis Simms from his loan deal at Sunderland.
Work behind the scenes was ongoing. Everton enquired about a loan deal for Manchester United winger Anthony Elanga but were told new faces would be needed at Old Trafford before the departure of a player involved in most matchday squads would be sanctioned. Danny Ings was a brief target. The veteran striker, so prolific against Everton and who had already scored against the Blues for Aston Villa this campaign, was only available on a permanent deal.
Weeks later, when he signed for relegation rivals West Ham United in a £12m move, the disappointment was clear as Lampard said: “He is a fantastic striker, a really good striker and I've always had a lot of admiration for Danny as a player and a lad, I don’t know him that well, but he seems like a real team lad. He is someone we will have to be very aware of because he is a top striker.”
As the window continued the club became engulfed in crisis as results heaped pressure on Lampard and sparked more and more questions about the wider management of Everton. His fate was effectively sealed by the 4-1 humiliation to Brighton but he clung on for several more weeks. The defeat at home to Southampton, then bottom of the table, was followed by a significant supporter demonstration against the board, members of which had not attended due to claims made by the club that they had been advised not to due to safety concerns. Board members, and Mr Moshiri, were present seven days later when defeat at West Ham cost Lampard his job.
Yet the message from the hierarchy remained clear. Amid speculation about the club being made available for sale, denied to the ECHO by Mr Moshiri, the majority shareholder told supporters through an interview with the club's Fan Advisory Board: "We need a striker, we will get one." The interview was filmed before the West Ham match but released the following Tuesday, just hours after the most explosive story of the Premier League transfer window. Villarreal winger Danjuma was due to sign on loan from the Spanish side only to make an 11th hour switch to Tottenham Hotspur. Lampard had been crucial in tempting him to Merseyside and his departure amid negotiations is likely to have been a factor.
It was a saga that scarred Everton's month and only served to increase pressure on confirming incomings at a time when a manager search was also underway. Meanwhile, every rival in the lower reaches of the table was strengthening. Southampton had signed Croatia star Mislav Orsic amid interest from Everton before beating them at Goodison. Leeds United had broken the club's transfer record on Georginio Rutter while West Ham had snared Ings had Bournemouth splashed the cash.
The manager hunt ended with Dyche last Friday and he met with Thelwell at Finch Farm on Saturday with work ongoing over the days before the official confirmation of his appointment. But over those days Everton found their squad weakened as another saga came to a conclusion. Gordon had been absent for three days of training, two of which were unauthorised, following Lampard's exit - even with sessions being overseen by his boyhood idol Leighton Baines, along with fellow academy boss Paul Tait. It took a formal transfer request to seal the 21-year-old's departure to Newcastle United in a deal that could rise to £45m and the 59-word Everton statement confirming his sale spoke volumes of the acrimony of his exit.
Gordon had barely featured in January despite Everton's desperate need for goals and his relationship with Lampard. His last act of note in an Everton shirt was the clumsy foul on Che Adams that allowed James Ward-Prowse the opportunity to score Southampton's winner at Goodison. Despite this, his sale left a club that had openly acknowledged two attacking signings were needed a further forward down and with just days to go to secure incomings.
It did, in theory, boost the transfer budget - leading to the extraordinary claim Everton were set to spend all of the Gordon money on Conor Gallagher. The club has long held an interest in the Chelsea midfielder but had been unable to tempt him to L4 even with Gallagher's boyhood idol Lampard in charge. No formal bid was made for the 22-year-old, who had little interest in a move even if an offer had been submitted.
This set up the situation many Everton supporters had feared but few had believed would turn to reality. The club entered the final day of one of the most important transfer windows in the club's modern history without a signing. Whether options were increased by the Gordon money or not the club entered Tuesday under a pressure that was never removed.
Interest in Rennes winger Kamaldeen Sulemana had persisted for weeks but Southampton instead swooped on the 20-year-old. An enquiry for Udinese forward Beto led to Everton turning away due to value placed on him by the Serie A side. Name after name was linked to Everton but the club knocked back suggested targets including Genk striker Paul Onuachu, Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres, Thorgan Hazard of Borussia Dortmund and Union Berlin winger Sheraldo Becker.
Reported late interest in the free agent Andre Ayew and Watford attacker Ismaila Sarr was dismissed. And as it became more and more likely Everton would go the full month without a signing, Dyche's task became harder and harder as rivals continued to make moves. Bournemouth secured Hamed Traore and Illia Zabarnyi while Nottingham Forest signed Atletico Madrid defender Felipe.
After 31 days of one of the most important windows in Everton's history every side from 13th and below had made at least three signings. Everton, separated from the bottom of the table by goal difference alone, had made none.
READ NEXT:
Gary Neville speaks out on Sean Dyche decision and 'the daft thing about Everton'
- Anthony Gordon transfer has exposed problem Everton haven't solved since Richarlison exit
Richard Keys urges Dyche to appoint 'Blue legend' in Everton coaching role
-
Anthony Gordon sent stern Newcastle United warning just a days after Everton transfer
What Gordon told Pope about Everton exit in behind-the-scenes Newcastle footage
