Everton might have won their past two matches at Goodison Park in the Premier League, early evidence of the impact that newly-appointed Sean Dyche is instilling across the blue side of Merseyside, but the failings on the transfer front is a personification of the sticky situation the Toffees have been beset with over the past several years.
The strugglers are facing a battle to remain in the division for the second successive season after a multitude of factors have run the outfit into the mud over the past few years.
A large reason behind the woes stems from the inability to get it right on the transfer front, with so many signings under Farhad Moshiri’s ownership failing to make the desired effect and steadily plunging the proud football club further into the ground; like quicksand, Everton need pulling from danger with a herculean effort.
Dyche is the perfect man to lead such a charge towards top-flight prominence once more, but he will need to clear out the deadwood in order to re-establish the cohesion that the Toffees so dearly crave.
By how much has Yerry Mina cost Everton?
When the Colombian defender arrived at Goodison Park from Barcelona for £27.2m in 2018, there was a weight of expectation for a player that had starred in shining light at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
As per Sofascore, the South American titan recorded an exemplary average rating of 7.87 for his exploits, scoring three times; his defensive dominance, imposing height and presence in the box left all affiliated with Everton brimming with optimism at how the stud would perform for their outfit.
For such a high cost for Moshiri, there is little to justify that the decision to sign the centre-back has been anything remotely close to resembling a resounding success, with his £120k-per-week wages putting him at the top of the club’s earners.
And despite this, Mina has only played 95 matches across his five campaigns (including the current term). Currently, this averages out to just 19 appearances across all competitions per season.
Largely, the hapless 39-cap star has been restricted to the sidelines due to his woeful injury record, missing 54 matches in total.
Taking the transfer tag and the accumulation of wages over his 236 weeks on Merseyside into account, Mina has cost his club more than £55.5m.
Branded “average” by Noel Whelan, the dud, who has only managed four appearances this season, is out of contract in the summer and appears to have no way back into a regular starting berth, especially given the new defensive partnership of Conor Coady and James Tarkowski dazzling for the Toffees.
Once, there was a man from Colombia who stood proud and tall among the swathes of defensive hopefuls looking to earn a place among the pantheon of professionals on the major stage.
It didn’t work out for Mina, first at Barcelona and now at Everton, and while injuries have agonisingly dictated the flow of his career, there is now little chance for retribution on Merseyside, with the heavy cost all to show for his labours.