Everton's summer transfer window was hectic, generally successful, and, somehow, still lacking.
In the end, the club added nine new players to the mix, while also seeing a large number of players leave, either because their contracts ran out, they were sold, or via loan. In the end, the club's reported net spend was somewhere in the neighborhood of €130 million.
However, in the minds of most Everton supporters, the club failed to bring in players at two key positions, one of which has been a need for the last several seasons: right back.
Seamus Coleman has been a fantastic servant to the club and continues to be part of the squad, but he is unlikely to be available consistently throughout the season, and should be saved for matches that are advantageous to his success.
Nathan Patterson was thought to be going out on loan, although the club did eventually decided to keep him around for depth. But the Scottish international is limited as a defender, and is likely better as a wingback, a role that David Moyes doesn't generally employ.
That leaves the spot to Jake O'Brien, who works hard to fill the role, but is a center back by trade and so is limited going forward. He defends well for the most part, but his size creates issues for him against some of the smaller, quicker wingers in the Premier League.
So while Everton may be able to continue with this setup for the remainder of the calendar year, it is already clear that the January window needs to be heavily focused on bringing in a young, modern right back who can finally solve the problem the club has had for years now.
Secondarily, another defensive midfielder who can backup, and eventually take over for, Idrissa Gana Gueye will be another position of need for the January window.
Moyes is going to be forced to cobble his midfield together when Gana is on international duty for Senegal at the African Cup of Nations, so it would have been ideal to find depth there in the summer, as James Garner and Merlin Rohl are not quite that player.
Instead, the long term future of that position will need to become a second area of need for the January window.
The good news is that Everton have cover in both of these places, so if the targets are more similar to Rohl, Thierno Barry, or Adam Aznou then that won't be the worst outcome.
But the club can no longer ignore these needs, and should already be looking ahead to January 2026 to consider how they positions can be addressed.