There is a palpable optimism in the air at Everton at this moment in time.
Long gone are the days of relegation anxiety under Sean Dyche, with David Moyes back at the helm, as seen in the Toffees occupying a promising fifth spot in the early Premier League standings after securing two wins from a possible three on offer.
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In a brand new home too at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, all matters involving the Toffees feel refreshed and rejuvenated, with new loan recruit Jack Grealish stealing all the positive headlines, too, for his blistering start to life on Merseyside.
How Grealish's unbelievable Everton start compares
Everton really did lay down a marker with their summer transfer activity, with Grealish the arguable pick of the bunch, away from recruiting the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry.
While the aforementioned Dewsbury-Hall is also up and running in Everton blue with a goal and assist, the former Aston Villa man already looks a man reborn in his fresh location, after a worrying fall-off under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Grealish has stunned his new, adoring contingent of supporters by picking up a sublime four assists from just three Premier League outings, leading to Moyes waxing lyrical that the Birmingham-born 29-year-old is "even better than I thought he was".
To add context, it would take Grealish 13 clashes for the Citizens to reach the same amount of goal contributions in top-flight action, while it would take him a slightly lesser 11 contests as Villa's captain during the breakout 2019/20 season to reach that tally of assists in the league.
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It will cost Everton a grand £50m to win Grealish's services outright at the end of the season, and on current form, that might well be a lavish price worth paying.
The confident Toffees haven't always hit instant gold like they have here, however, with a past hiccup in the transfer market seeing them ditch an underperformer for £22.5m, who is now worth more than the skilful number 18..
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The "world-class" ace now worth more than Grealish
Indeed, Everton have been susceptible to a transfer blunder or two over the years, with Moise Kean's name sticking out in this regard, as he continues to fire home goal after goal for Fiorentina - 25 to be exact - despite consistently firing blanks on Merseyside.
Another ex-Toffees flop in Ademola Lookman also now plies his trade in Italy, with the Atalanta attacker desperate for a Premier League return during the hectic transfer window just gone, only to remain situated in Bergamo.
Ademola Lookman 2024-25 stats (timeless)
He will no doubt dust himself down and get going in Serie A again, however, having wreaked havoc in the hustle and bustle of the Italian top-flight for many a season now.
Indeed, his 2024/25 offering for Ivan Juric's men saw him collect a staggering 27 goal contributions in all competitions, with those ridiculous numbers more than backing up claims that the tricky attacker is "world-class", as he was dubbed by commentator Matteo Bonetti.
Lookman at Everton vs Atalanta
Stat
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
Transfer fee/value
Sourced by Transfermarkt
It's a far cry away from what a far more timid Lookman would muster up at Goodison Park, with a weak four goals and two assists tallied up from 48 appearances on Merseyside. At the time, therefore, Marco Silva's men might well have thought they'd done well to offload the Nigerian forward for £22.5m.
However, their lack of patience has come back to bite them, with his estimated valuation now coming in at around £30m more at the £52m mark - which is even more than Grealish's price tag - off the back of a mammoth 77 goal contributions falling into his lap in Italy.
Thankfully, although they did lose the Serie A "superstar" for cheap - as he's been further lauded by 90Min's Sean Walsh - Moyes and Co. do at least now have a Lookman-style talent on their hands in Grealish, with plenty more expected of the enigmatic Englishman as the season drags on.