After securing the permanent services of André Gomes the arrival of the England midfielder for a cut-price £8.5m should only add to the sense of excitement at Goodison

The consensus among the more excitable news outlets is that this is going to be a record-breaking transfer window in England, with some huge deals expected in the next few weeks, even if Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen and the rest are all back in pre-season training with the same clubs they were supposed to be leaving.

There is more to building an effective side than splashing the cash and playing games of brinkmanship, however, and Everton must be among the clubs quite satisfied with the business they have done so far. Basically Marco Silva has bought himself a new midfield for a cost of around £30m, even if André Gomes was already at Goodison on loan last season. Most people felt a fee of £22m for a former Barcelona player of obvious class was a fair price in today’s inflated market, which makes Fabian Delph at £8.5m either a steal or the bargain of the decade.

Fabian Delph moves to Everton from Manchester City for £8.5m Read more

Delph is only four years older than Gomes and arrives at Everton fresh – fresh being the operative word – from two title-winning seasons at Manchester City. If the midfielder was on the whole lightly used at the Etihad, due to the quantity and quality of the players ahead of him, it is also true that whenever and wherever he played he never let anyone down or looked out of place.

Everton were believed to be in the hunt for Delph when he joined Aston Villa from Leeds a decade ago, and while they now have him towards the end of his career rather than at the start, they are getting a lot of experience for their money and a player who looks to have a good few seasons left.

Considering Everton stand to recoup much of their outlay by selling Ademola Lookman to RB Leipzig – talks are continuing for the 21-year-old around a proposed fee of £22m – Silva’s team-strengthening seems likely to meet quite a tight budget. That is what the accountants would say, anyway. Everyone else at Goodison will be a little sad if Lookman departs without really establishing himself in the first team or living up to his immense promise.

Everton will double their money on the teenage player they smuggled out of Charlton when Ronald Koeman was in charge and tasked with allowing youth to flourish in the same way he had at Southampton, though if Lookman leaves it will be confirmation, as if Sam Allardyce had not been enough, that the club is no longer in the business of rejuvenating and reinventing itself in quite the way supporters had hoped.

What exactly Everton are in the business of is now quite a difficult question. Normally considered the best side outside the top six, Silva’s team finished eighth last season, allowing Wolves to claim the dubious honour of seventh place and a go at the Europa League courtesy of Manchester City winning the FA Cup. Doubtless Wolves will be excited to be in Europe, and there is no reason why they should not be after a long absence and an impressive return to the top flight, yet bearing in mind the havoc the Europa League wrought on Koeman’s short-lived Goodison tenure Everton might feel they are better off out of it.

Just about the only way to make the Europa League pay is to go all the way and win the thing, thereby earning a Champions League place, but though Manchester United and Chelsea might be equipped to do that, mid-table sides not blessed with Champions League-sized squads or resources find it difficult to keep making progress on two fronts for the greater part of the season.

Burnley were a case in point last season, when their reward for a tremendous seventh-place finish the season before was a relegation scare in the next campaign. Sean Dyche said it took them until Christmas to get the extra exertion of the Europa League out of their system yet their European odyssey lasted only until the end of August.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest André Gomes made his switch from Barcelona permanent in a £22m deal after an impressive season on loan at Goodison Park. Photograph: Tony McArdle - Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images

Everton at the moment have no European football on offer, which does not make it any easier to sign the sort of reliable striker whose goals will help achieve European football in future. What they would really like is to bypass the Europa League altogether and reach the Champions League direct but so would Manchester United and Arsenal and they have more resources. While Everton fans can be impressed by some of the names Silva is being linked with – Mario Mandzukic, Diego Costa and Moise Kean, for instance – the tricky bit is persuading anyone of that stature to hook up with a team whose Champions League record is negligible and with qualification status patchy even in the Europa League.

But at least Everton are trying. Silva’s team did not completely win over the doubters on the pitch last season, but the manager is having a decent transfer window and excitement is already building. This is no small achievement when living in the same city as Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, having seen the neighbours reach two Champions League finals in the last couple of seasons while watching first Burnley then Wolves claim the seventh spot they had come to regard as their own.

Premier League transfers so far this summer and what each club still needs Read more

When Liverpool completed that ludicrous comeback against Barcelona at Anfield there was talk among Everton supporters of building an ark, both a refuge and an escape being considered necessary if a sixth red conquest of Europe was now on the cards, but the great thing about football is that everything settles down again after summer and everyone starts the new season with a clean slate.

As Delph has just explained, in the most naked attempt to press Everton buttons since David Moyes came up with his “people’s club” routine, there is always a good deal of passion at Goodison. It is encouraging to see the present management have no intention of taking it for granted.