With one week until the transfer window closes, Everton have work to do. The club would like to secure incomings and some outgoings over the coming days, with finding a right back a priority, while several fringe players are likely to be available should sensible offers come in.
One unexpected dilemma that could yet emerge is whether to keep Jake O'Brien after the Athletic reported on Monday that the club would be willing to listen to offers for the defender. Here, some of the ECHO's Blues writers give their thoughts on the revelation that the Irishman's time on Merseyside could be coming to an end.
Paul Wheelock's view: A curveball Everton do not need
It's more than two years now since Everton sold a bona-fide first-team player. Yes, Youssef Chermiti left for Rangers for £10m back in September, but you have to go back to July 2024, when Amadou Onana signed for Aston Villa for £50m, to find the last time the Blues lost a member of their senior squad. So it's not surprising that a sale would happen this summer. But the surprise could be the identity of the player sold.
With one week remaining in the window, it would make sense, for varying reasons, if the Blues listened to offers for Nathan Patterson, Tim Iroegbunam, Carlos Alcaraz and Beto. But it now seems they will do the same for Jake O'Brien.
I'm torn on this. I don't disagree with David Moyes' decision to pair new club captain James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite as his first-choice centre-back partnership for the start of this season. Nor do I disagree with the Everton manager's decision to start Merlin Rohl over O'Brien at right-back while the club continues its endless search for a specialist in that role.
And if O'Brien is not willing to wait for his chance ahead of, in all likelihood, Tarkowski, and if Moyes and the club doubt his ability to become one of the club's long-term centre-backs, parting ways now could make sense.
However, the limited sample size of seeing O'Brien at centre-back, especially alongside Branthwaite, has raised understandable doubts among supporters over whether this is a potential exit that the club could live to regret.
Joe Thomas's view: A strange move unless for a fortune
Any sale of Jake O'Brien, if it was to materialise, would strike me as a strange move - at least unless it was for an absolute fortune.
I think O'Brien is a star in the making. He has fought hard, for too long but with a reasonable return, out of position at right back. But his 18 months or so in that position means he now has a heap of Premier League experience. That should only help him in his favoured role of centre back, when the time comes. On the occasions he has played there, he has been exceptional. Wins - with clean sheets - at tough places like Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest all spring to mind.
I can understand why Moyes has started the season with James Tarkowski, who offers experience and leadership in a side that, given there is still no specialist right-back and with James Garner and Christian Norgaard injured, needs both. But with Tarkowski and Michael Keane set to turn 34 this season, I would be working on a plan that would see me transition towards a partnership of O'Brien and Jarrad Branthwaite.
I think O'Brien and Branthwaite have the potential to become one of Europe's best centre back pairings - their height, their pace, their comfort on the ball should make for a fearsome partnership.
You also have to factor in the injury history of Branthwaite. He has grown in strength through the summer and we all hope his problems are behind him. But can we take that for granted? Not yet. O'Brien is about as good a replacement as you could hope to have should Branthwaite have any issues.
If Everton were to allow O'Brien to leave, he would need replacing. I do not see a realistic scenario in which he would leave and Everton would end up stronger, certainly not in the short-term. And if the ambitions are those set out by Angus Kinnear last week - to push for Europe and the cups to provide tangible progress now - that strikes me as being problematic.
