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Ramiro Funes Mori cost Everton a record-breaking transfer fee for a defender.

The Argentinian centre-back set the Blues back a cool £9.5m when he arrived on transfer deadline day from River Plate.

Sometimes you have to pay a big fee to land real quality, but a sizeable transfer fee doesn’t always guarantee value for money.

And Everton have seen both sides of the coin in the past.

We take a look at some of Everton’s big bucks backs – and see who offered the most bang for their bucks.

Slaven Bilic – £4.5m

A classy Croat, Everton were so enamoured by Slaven Bilic’s abilities that they agreed to pay West Ham a British record transfer fee for a defender – even though the Blues were managerless at the time!

Howard Kendall inherited the player and soon decided he was more barmy Balkan than cultured Croat.

Man-of-the-match on his debut against Crystal Palace, he was also booked – one of eight yellow cards and three reds he received during a season which saw him suspended for nine matches – almost a quarter of the campaign!

He was involved in further controversy at the 1998 World Cup finals, when Laurent Blanc was red-carded for striking him in the face and missed the World Cup final. Much of the media reaction focused on Bilic’s exaggerated reaction and he was labelled the bad guy in the incident.

A long-term pelvic problem seriously limited Bilic’s appearances post-World Cup and after just five games under Walter Smith, and one for Croatia, Everton gave Bilic a pay-off enabling him to sign for hometown club Hadjuk Split.

Undoubtedly a fine footballer, Everton only briefly saw the best of Bilic.

Leighton Baines – £6m

A fee of £6m in the summer of 2007 was considerable for Everton – the club record was still only £8.6m for Andy Johnson – especially when David Moyes appeared to decide that Baines’ lack of height could be an issue at set pieces and initially preferred Joleon Lescott at left-back!

But once Baines forced his way into the Everton first team, there was no displacing him.

He quickly proved worth every penny of that transfer fee – and some.

Widely regarded as the finest Everton left-back since World Cup winner Ray Wilson, his last appearance was his 300th start for the Blues.

Still an influential member of the Blues’ back four – when free from injury – Baines has been worth every penny of his transfer fee.

Per Kroldrup - £5m

The best that can be said about the imposing Danish defender was that Everton recognised their mistake quickly – and offloaded him 31 days after his Everton debut!

Leon Osman analysed the deal effectively in his autobiography “Ossie.”

“The gaffer paid £5m for Per Kroldrup, which was a lot of money for a defender back then,” he wrote. “He came in and passed it well, but...

“On his very first day of training, the gaffer took him to one side and started doing heading practice with him, like you would with a seven-year-old. It was a case of holding the ball, saying: ‘Are you ready? One, two, three – jump.’

“Honestly, it was incredible. I don’t know what happened, but he had obviously realised that heading wasn’t Per’s strong point. £5m for a centre-half who can’t head the ball!

“He went on to spend six years with Fiorentina, so he’s obviously a good player but he wasn’t set up for the Premier League. Per started one game, away to Villa on Boxing Day, and we lost 4-0. He was up against big John Carew, who just annihilated him.”

Colin Todd – £300,000

A PFA Player of the Year in 1975, Colin Todd still oozed class, composure and steely resilience when he became the most expensive defender Everton had ever signed in the summer of 1978.

A wonderful centre-back, then Blues boss Gordon Lee tried to play him at right-back and it wasn’t long before Todd was on his way to Birmingham City for £275,000.

He explained recently: “I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

“I think the supporters are very appreciative and they know their football.

“Unfortunately I had a little bit of a clash with the manager and it didn’t work out, but you move on.”

One Merseyside football observer remarked that playing Todd at right-back was like asking Lester Piggott to win The Derby on a donkey, but Todd insists that his exit was not just down to the position he was picked in.

He added: “I played right-back for England a few times but my best position was obviously centre-back.

“The supporters were good here and acknowledged me as a right-back, but I think they saw the best of me when I was playing centre-back.

“The one thing about Evertonians is that they do appreciate good players.”

And Colin Todd was undeniably a good player.

Johnny Heitinga – £6.2m

Given the squad number five when he signed from Atletico Madrid, Evertonians were initially unsure whether they had signed a right-back, a holding midfielder or a centre-back, given the variety of positions he was asked to play in.

He made his debut as a right-back against Blackburn, moved to centre-half for the next match against Stoke then in his fifth appearance was used as a central midfielder – unsuccessfully – against Wolves.

He spent five years at Goodison, making 140 appearances – but his time will be largely described as mixed.

Ramiro Funes Mori is now the latest defender with a large transfer fee to justify – and boss Roberto Martinez believes he will be ready to start doing that almost immediately.

Asked when Mori, 24, might be ready for Premier League exposure, Martinez said: “As soon as we can. I feel that after the international break, he will be ready to join the group.

“Clearly, he is going to need a little bit of an adaptation period because the British game is very, very different – especially for a player that is in the last line. But, in terms of being available, I expect him to be fully fit and ready for the Chelsea game.”

Blues fans will hope he can be more Baines than Bilic; more Todd than Kroldrup.