It cost Everton £10 million ($13.2 million) to fire manager Roberto Martinez after three years in charge in May. It then cost the Merseyside club £5 million in compensation paid to Southampton to appoint Ronald Koeman.

Everton, which has made its best start for a decade, believes it is money well spent and if it beats Middlesbrough on Saturday it could top the Premier League.

Koeman may not have the stardust of Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho, the energetic charisma of Jurgen Klopp or Antonio Conte, or the staying power of Arsene Wenger, yet any of these managers would have been proud to have equaled Koeman's achievements during his two seasons with Southampton.