Everton are renowned for their transfer disasters since the arrival of Farhad Moshiri, which has seen over £500m spent with nothing to show for it beyond relegation battles and financial troubles.
As a result, it will come as no surprise that the club's owner has forged a fractured relationship with the Goodison Park faithful over the years with managerial sackings almost every 12 months and overpriced signings making little to no impact having been the harsh reality of their downfall.
Indeed, former manager Frank Lampard and sporting director Kevin Thelwell sparked a U-turn in the poor recruitment and reckless spending that had become common culture with not only the acquirement of free agent James Tarkowski, who has quickly become an important player in the team, but a clear out of the expensive yet uninspiring signings of the past.
Since the summer transfer window, Lampard and Thelwell sent Allan, Salomon Rondon, Cenk Tosun and Jonjoe Kenny packing, whilst more failed signings in Dele Alli, Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin were shipped out on loan to leave behind the squad players who they believed offered something to the team.
However, there is no denying that Everton wouldn't be in the vulnerable situation they have found themselves this season if it wasn't for the financial recklessness that has occurred for over half a decade, something that could now see them suffer further consequences beyond potential relegation with an FFP investigation.
One player who perhaps epitomises Moshiri's spending is former Barcelona midfielder Gomes, who is currently out on a season-long loan with LOSC Lille.
How much is Andre Gomes worth now?
There were high expectations for the Everton midfielder when he signed his five-year £22m deal until 2024 back in 2019 after spending a season on loan at Goodison Park in the previous campaign.
The Toffees finished eighth in the Premier League ahead of their permanent signing of Gomes, where he made 29 appearances in all competitions – scoring one goal and delivering two assists over the campaign.
Since then, the Portuguese flop has never been able to reach the consistency he showed during that loan spell, whether that be in goal contributions or appearances made in the team.
Last season before his loan move to Lille in the summer, Gomes was the fifth worst-rated player in the 31-man squad with an average rating of just 6.35, as per Sofascore.
Over 14 Premier League appearances, the midfielder – who was rather harshly dubbed "useless" by journalist Mohammed Butt – lost 64% of his duels and tallied up just a 77% pass accuracy.
Furthermore, he offered only 0.3 key passes and failed to score a single goal, proving that he had minimal impact and became more a hindrance than a help.
Despite seemingly reviving his career with Lille, Gomes is now worth 88% less than his initial transfer fee paid by Everton four years ago with the player's market value set at €3m (£2.6m) according to CIES Football Observatory.
The Toffees will now struggle to recoup anything worthwhile from a potential opportunity to sell Gomes ahead of his contract expiration next summer with the Portugal international having become just another player added to the long list of transfers that have failed and drained Everton's financial resources.