Days after securing James Smith, Manchester City’s director of scouting and recruitment, Everton have now raided their neighbours Manchester United as well.
Smith, who was previously at the Toffees under David Moyes in the manager's first stint at the club, will be returning in a recruitment role.
He will be joined by Nick Cox who is the current Red Devils' Director of Academy, with the 47-year-old set to become the Blues new Technical Director.
Everton's new owners The Friedkin Group are said to prefer the title technical director in line with continental clubs over the Director of Football position, which was last held by Kevin Thelwell whose contract was not renewed this summer.
As reported exclusively by iNews, Cox will not be starting at Finch Farm right away as he will be spending the next few months transitioning away from United.
He is said to have rejected a number of technical director and sporting director roles at Premier League, EFL and clubs in Europe along with multiple opportunities at football governing bodies.
"Cox has recently earned his Uefa Pro Licence and has won almost universal praise for the culture he has created at United’s academy, which has cemented its reputation among the most successful at producing first-team players on his watch."
With the Blues also letting go of academy director Gareth Prosser and former head of academy recruitment and player pathways James Vaughan, this is a true statement of intent from The Friedkin Group as they continue to surround new chief executive Angus Kinnear with top talent at the Boardroom level.