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Roberto Martinez was right when he publicly described the arrival of Farhad Moshiri as the beckoning of a new era at Everton

Privately, however, he may well have feared it didn't include him.

Less than three months after Moshiri joined the club, and Martinez's declaration that the planned investment would take Everton to a "different level" and would "accelerate the process", the Catalan had been axed.

All Moshiri's arrival did was speed up his demise.

May 12, in the wake of a 3-0 humbling at Sunderland, was the first, ruthless, statement of intent delivered by the Blues' new majority shareholder who had no desire to waste time as Everton's season dissolved in front of his eyes.

There was a game, a dead rubber against Norwich City, still to be played but this was no time to deal in the currency of sentiment.

Yet Moshiri had been inclined to pull the trigger almost a month earlier after the toxicity levels around Goodison reached new highs, spilling out onto the pitch and leaving Martinez in the eye of a fan revolt.

Such was the limp nature of Everton's performance against Southampton on April 16 that the club's new power, furious with what he saw, wanted to wield the axe there and then.

The sight of Ronald Koeman, the only choice for Moshiri, on the Goodison touchline that day will made matters worse for Martinez.

Moshiri's forgiving side and, perhaps, the counsel of others, however, granted the Catalan a stay of execution but the embarrassment that followed at Anfield four days later, which saw Jon Woods leave the ground early, and the FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley in front of his eyes, did little to dampen his desire for change.

By the time Everton rolled over at Leicester at the start of May, the wheels of change were in motion and the loss at Sunderland on May 11 only rubber-stamped his sacking.

No sooner had Martinez been given his marching orders, it emerged that Moshiri wanted Koeman.

Manuel Pellegrini, Frank de Boer and Unai Emery were discussed but Everton's new billionaire backer only had eyes for the Dutchman - and he simply wouldn't take no for an answer.

(Image: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

Moshiri made certain to do due diligence on his No1 target and saw a manager who had worked wonders on a relatively modest budget at Southampton, someone with an eye for talent, a coach not afraid to give young players a chance and a boss who refuses to panic in testing moments.

But the British-Iranian valued the input and guidance of Bill Kenwright and it was the Blues' chairman who led the negotiations with an angry and upset Saints hierarchy.

Koeman was interested, but initially unsure, however after a meeting in London with Moshiri and Kenwright he bought into the vision they painted of Everton's future.

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Moshiri, who had already put up the money to pay off Martinez and his team, prised Koeman and his staff from their deal at St Mary's before handing the Dutchman the highest salary ever seen by a manager at Everton.

The Dutch coach could see that with Moshiri's financial clout, he could turn the Blues into top four contenders.

And lead them into that new era.