It was a transfer that was a bolt of the blue for Evertonians on Thursday.
Ramiro Funes Mori’s departure for La Liga club Villarreal hadn’t so much as registered on the transfer rumour radar as it had not show up whatsoever.
And yet plenty of Everton supporters were left pleased that their club had managed to secure a superb piece of business for a senior player whose future at Goodison Park had looked increasingly precarious.
The Toffees have reportedly made a profit on Funes Mori, with some papers suggesting that a fee in excess of £17m was stumped up by Villarreal to lure him to Spain.
Given that Everton forked out £9.5m to bring him to the Premier League three summers ago, it’s a tidy bit of business from new director of football Marcel Brands.
Funes Mori had made noises about wanting to head back to former club River Plate after a 12-month injury lay off with a cruciate knee ligament injury.
And, with a lack of regular football seemingly on the horizon, it was almost inevitable that a parting of the ways would occur.
New manager Marco Silva wishes to stamp his own authority on the club’s first-team squad, and has ambitions on bringing in his own signings to bolster an average side based on last season’s shoddy showing.
Many would not have predicted that Funes Mori would be the first casualty of his and Brands’ senior ranks culling, but plenty would have bitten Villarreal’s arm off for the price they put to Everton for the 27-year-old.
It should be said that Funes Mori did enjoy a decent start to life on Merseyside.
The centre-back’s 37 appearances and haul of five goals in his debut campaign made him something of a cult hero among sections of Everton’s fanbase.
His rash red card in the 4-0 drubbing to Liverpool at Anfield in the Merseyside derby in January 2016, however, was never forgotten about – nor was the incessant badge beating that incensed plenty of Liverpool supporters as he marched off the pitch for an early bath.
And that was the main issue with Funes Mori. There was always a mistake in him that could prove costly to Everton’s chances of securing victories when needed.
His rush of blood to the head personality, coupled with some wayward passing, ensured that there were nervy moments towards the end of his Everton career.
He was a decent purchase at the time, but Everton have since moved on from players of his ilk and need to bring in proven quality if they are to finally realise their ambitions under majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
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Funes Mori is the first player to head for the Everton exit, but he certainly won’t be the last this summer.