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Five new signings in 11 days, you say?

Pfffffft, easy, Everton crammed the same number into just over a week last summer.

Just.

And, of course, it was far from simple, not anything like straightforward, had officials running through the streets of Barcelona, transfers going to the wire, deals that needed an extra day for ratification and all in all, it was too close for comfort.

Marcel Brands had never experienced a transfer window like it and had no appetite to taste the kind of organised chaos exclusive the Premier League, again this summer.

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Yet Marco Silva's chances of having a full squad at his disposal by the end of the month are slimmer than slim and instead the manager is just hoping the club can land all of their targets before the cut off point.

Everton completed all of the business they set out to last summer, snapping up Lucas Digne, Bernard, Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Kurt Zouma in the final eight days of the window having signed Richarlison in late July.

Doing so with significantly less time to prepare than this time around too and so there is no reason to doubt the Blues will once again deliver on a right-back, centre-half, winger, striker and – in all probability – a replacement for Idrissa Gueye.

Steady hands are required between now and 5pm on August 8, even if Silva's blunt assessment of his current squad options sounded like a manager getting impatient.

But surely that's normal? It's right that Silva should want a full compliment of players, new signings and all, at Finch Farm as soon as possible to give him the best chance to have the team ready for the game with Crystal Palace?

Absolutely. And it would be odd if a manager didn't think like that. Silva can see the opening run of fixtures as a real opportunity to build early momentum and is itching to get down to business.

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But complicating matters, and making it increasingly likely that the Everton boss will have to wait until the final week of the window to see all the players he wants in one place, is that this isn't simply a case of making an offer, paying the money and signing the five new players on the list.

That process, in itself, is more complex than appears.

But Everton also need to know, at the very least, the same number will be going in the other direction (if not more) and removed from the wage bill because that is what Brands has been charged with doing since he walked through the door, and it remains the undeniable narrative of this summer.

The Blues haven't been as busy as some clubs in the Premier League clubs so far but by bringing in three – Jonas Lossl, Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph – they are far from the quietest on the transfer front.

Sanctions imposed on Chelsea have muddied the waters over Zouma too.

As has become the norm in the Premier League, there will be a domino effect in the coming days as the pieces of the transfer puzzle start falling into place, beginning with those at the top and working its way down the table.

Everton got their business done last summer when time wasn't on their side. The belief is they will do so again.