With Everton sitting in the top four at Christmas and only a point from second-placed Leicester City, there will be no need to rush into the January transfer window.
The Blues squad has started to show some strength in depth over recent weeks, with three straight wins despite injuries to Lucas Digne, Seamus Coleman, Allan and James Rodriguez demonstrating there are options for Carlo Ancelotti.
Thus, the club, particularly Marcel Brands, will be keen to steady and improve the squad only if the situation suits.
Brands is well known to have something of an ambivalent approach to the winter window, openly admitting he prefers to do his business in the summer when possible.
That’s backed by his history as a Director of Football, with January having been a quiet window at all of his previous clubs and Everton as well.
With Ancelotti at the helm, though, things are a little different. The Italian knows this season is one in which his side could make a serious leap forward, and he will be keen to build on a solid first half of the campaign.
The recent defeat to Manchester United and the relative benches both sides had available also showed the gulf that Everton need to make up to catch those ahead of them.
To do so, he will want signings in key areas in January, knowing that good additions to his squad could help push Everton to where they want to be at the end of the season.
With finances tight, debt through the roof and the January window a tough one to get good value in, he and Brands will also know that deals will be difficult to get over the line.
So who are the players they could conceivably bring through the door with all of that in mind?
The most obvious is Sami Khedira. Juventus are desperate to get rid of the German midfielder, who is not part of Andrea Pirlo’s plans but whose high wages have proven prohibitive to their own transfer plans.
He’s happy to leave, but it has been made clear that he wants a deal in place elsewhere before terminating his contract with the Italian giants.
Everton have been linked for several weeks courtesy of his connection with Ancelotti, whom he worked under at Real Madrid. Indeed, the Italian has been toying with journalists for several weeks about a potential reunion.
That’s been pushed in recent weeks, with it claimed that Everton chiefs are ‘ready’ to make the move happen and the player ‘hopes’ for a transfer after contact between the two was established earlier this month.
The same can be said of Real Madrid outcast Isco. He’s another who’s been heavily linked with a move to Goodison Park over the last month, with a plethora of rumours saying he wants to reunite with Ancelotti.
Most of that has been fuelled by James Rodriguez’s success since making the move in the summer, although it is no secret that both Isco and Real Madrid would take a separation if it were offered.
He would not be available on a free as Madrid are keen to ensure they make money on the Spaniard, while his high wages, €6.7m a year, which it’s been claimed he wants to maintain, are another issue.
Everton are known to be following the situation, though, and the excellent relationship they developed with Madrid after Rodriguez’s move means a deal could be struck.
Isco would be another big scoop for the Toffees, as the Colombian was in the summer, but they can offer him the regular game time and a positive relationship with his coach, two things he is desperate for and does not have in Madrid.
The critical question is whether Everton would consider another attacking midfielder, who would cost a relatively big sum and demand big wages, would be a smart signing when other areas of the team are arguably more desperate for attention.
That is undoubtedly the case upfront, where Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been shining but needs competition in the squad.
Cenk Tosun currently fills that role, but the Turkish striker is very clearly not up to the mark and interest from the Netherlands, and West Bromwich Albion, now managed by Sam Allardyce, the man who brought him to Goodison Park, could tempt him away.
On that front, Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik is more than attainable. His contract with the Italian side expires next summer, and he certainly won’t be signing a new deal any time soon having been left out of their squad for the first half of the season.
Napoli are desperate to sell to ensure they don’t lose him on a free and Everton have long been named as suitors, with it revealed the player ‘hoped’ he’d make the move in the summer.
According to the latest reports, a move to Everton ‘remains possible’ as Milik is desperate for regular game-time to make sure he heads to the European Championships in the summer.
A deal is certainly there to be done, and fresh impetus upfront could certainly help Everton should the goals dry up for Calvert-Lewin.
The significant issue is Napoli, who are known to be determined to get something for the Polish striker and have set an €18m asking price on his head.
That’s a high price that no side will pay given his contract situation and would need to be negotiated down by Marcel Brands if they were to make their move.
Fortunately, he has experience of that with the club, given he continually drove their demands for Allan down across the summer before getting the Brazilian for the price he wanted.
Milik would certainly be open to the move and the chance to reunite with Ancelotti too, but with money tight, it would certainly be dependant on the likes of Tosun being moved on.
Still, given his contract situation and the chance to push for a serious bargain, he’s one Everton could quite easily get their hands on with little effort, the same as Isco and Khedira.
It will all, though, be determined by Ancelotti. If he decides he’s happy with his lot, Everton will likely be quiet.
If he’s not and demands more, Everton and Brands will move to fix that issue, and these three names could be right at the top of the list.
