It's interesting that despite having such a small squad, Everton manager David Moyes is still resisting the kind of rotation that feels necessary to keep things fresh in the Premier League this season.
Now more than ever, the Scottish boss will need his most talented attackers to step up and provide, not only adding quality but providing difference-making moments reserved for the best in the business.
REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff
Sadly, Iliman Ndiaye has been sold, but the Toffees are lacking the punch that some of their former superstars might have provided. Take, for example, Ross Barkley back in his Evertonian prime.
When Everton thought Ross Barkley was destined for greatness
Barkley burst onto the scene way back when and looked to be the next big thing at Everton. Things didn't pan out as he and the Merseysiders might have hoped, though, leaving his boyhood club for £15m in January 2018, signing for Chelsea and never hitting the heights once envisaged of him.
Back during those early days, the 33-time England international was a force to be reckoned with. A loan spell with Preston North End in 2012/13 established him as one of Merseyside's top talents, and he went on to score 21 Premier League goals for Everton before joining Chelsea.
Barkley said himself that he had aspirations of becoming a world-class attacker, but it never happened, with the loss of stability that leaving Everton created perhaps factoring into that.
Ross-Barkley-Everton-stats
Barkley has enjoyed a solid career, for sure, but he never cemented the legendary status at Everton that once felt like the perfect career path for him to choose, thriving as the club's biggest talent since one Wayne Rooney.
Such academy talents aren't exactly readily available, but Moyes may have one on his hands right now.
Moyes has struck gold on the new Ross Barkley
Barkley might have left Everton prematurely, but the 'What If' surrounding his career must be a lesson from which other players learn from.
Ross Barkley for Aston Villa
Take Harrison Armstrong, for example. The homegrown talent has started all seven of Everton's Premier League matches this season after impressing out on loan with Preston last year; and in that, he could emerge as the club's new Barkley - someone who could go one step further than the Aston Villa veteran and become a superstar on Merseyside.
Armstrong is the real deal, energetic and boisterous while developing a natural playmaking ability which could see him take on a focal role at Everton before long. Teammate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has also praised him for having "that Everton spirit", evidenced through his tireless running across the 90.
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Most Distance Covered in the Premier League (26/27)
Player
Vitaly Janelt
Anton Stach
Pascal Gross
Ethan Ampadu
Harrison Armstrong
It's worth remembering he is still so young, and that Moyes isn't one to dish out minutes for young prospects just because they have potential. In fact, he is notoriously difficult to break out under.
After all, it was Moyes who handed Barkley his Everton debut back on the opening day of the 2011/12 campaign, starting him against Queens Park Rangers.
The man who gave birth to Rooney on a football pitch, also promoting Declan Rice at West Ham United from young, has now established the teenage Armstrong as a mainstay at the heart of this Everton project, progressing play forward and seeking to create chances for his teammates.
To think that Armstrong was almost sold to Nottingham Forest. It almost beggars belief, though offers a grim insight into the thinking of owners the Friedkin Group as they sought to cash in on valuable players ahead of transfer-listing Everton earlier this month, having invested poorly this summer.
Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Armstrong remains, having nearly joined the Tricky Trees for £40m. Let's just hope he sticks around for a while longer, boasting all the attributes to develop into a superstar and go one better than Barkley, who never should have left Everton in search of greener pastures.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Everton
Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Everton