Use your head and sign up now for the Everton FC newsletter Sign up now Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Everton are a football giant. It should never have been debated.

However, during the pursuit of Ronald Koeman, the point was up for discussion. Lots. The bizarre consensus that the Toffees were no longer a 'big club' proved to be a serious gripe for some Blues.

Why would the Dutchman leave mighty Southampton for Everton? Why would he make a sideways move? Who would be so stupid to leave the all-conquering Saints? 'He'd be mad to go there,' cried football fans across the country.

This negative perception of Everton is the product of a 21-year barren run. Ludicrous claims can be made and accepted.

Pundits, swarms of experts on social media and even respected commentator John Motson, a man who has witnessed Everton's glory days and knows full well of their credentials, all shared doubts over the club's appeal this summer.

It seems the age of the Premier League has blurred the memories of many. The view on Everton has become skewed. Quite how the 24 seasons that have followed the division's inception trumps the century of football which preceded it is anyone's guess.

Apparently, Southampton's sixth-placed finish this season - which came six years after winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy - saw them leapfrog Everton, a club with nine league titles and five FA Cups.

Trawling behind the Saints, the Toffees are subsequently light years behind England's current powerhouses. That is the spiel. However, after inadvertently offering their rivals two decades to play catch up, Everton still boast as many championship triumphs as Chelsea and Manchester City put together.

But hey, the club has been dwarfed in recent years hasn't it?

The opinion that Everton are a mid-table side is wholly wrong. The struggles of the nineties and relative mediocrity which followed has not been the norm for the football club since its formation in 1878. Nothing but the best is the standard expected. The top is where Everton belongs.

Phrases like 'The Mersey Millionaires', 'School of Science' and 'Holy Trinity' are all redundant and meaningless in the view of the modern football supporter, though. Dixie Dean, Alan Ball, Neville Southall, Brian Labone and Howard Kendall are names consigned to the past. Today's fan only focuses on the season just gone, global fanbases, Twitter followers and money generated from TV deals.

It's complete and utter nonsense.

A club's standing in the game does not fluctuate year on year. One poor season does not simply eradicate previous glories. Nor does brief success make up for constant failures.

As for Koeman's future, the prospect of a brief sojourn into the Europa League with a middling club would not be just reason for him to turn down Everton. Besides finishing higher up the table for two consecutive seasons, Southampton cannot touch the Blues. Especially when Everton's billionaire majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is prepared to dig deeper into his pockets than the Saints' rich owners.

Yes, Koeman will arrive at Everton with the promise of a huge pay rise and transfer kitty but he will understand he is moving to a bigger club capable of going much further than his soon-to-be former employers. Southampton fail to deceive for the simple fact they are not prepared to match Moshiri's offer.

It seems those who have dismissed Everton recently do not want to acknowledge Moshiri's arrival and underestimate the impact he will have on L4 and the English game.

Rivalling French champions Paris Saint-Germain for Sevilla's highly-rated sporting director Monchi proves Moshiri's intent and where he wants to take Everton. He also plans to smash the current wage structure in his bid to take the club into the Champions League.

However, the alarm bells are yet to ring in the ears of those outside Merseyside it seems. People are yet to realise this sleeping giant is stirring.

Moshiri's plans are no grandiose facade. The Iranian means business.

Landing Koeman sets the ball rolling but only marquee signings and a top four finish will ensure the doubters really take notice. After all, Everton are not the only club with money to spend.

However, the Toffees can now be a big club and, for perhaps the first time this century, truly act like one.

Everton can bully and harass for the best. If they want a striker, they will get him. If they wish to keep their star man, they can.

Footballers will rarely turn down teams with money, ambition and an already huge stature. Everton have all three.

For some special clubs, no matter what happens on and off the pitch, they will always have that power, that allure.

Take Aston Villa. One of the most storied sides in England but an utter shambles in 2016. However, because of the badge on the shirt, lesser teams will strive to claim the scalp of the big club in the Championship next season. They will raise their game whether Villa are top or bottom.

Juventus, one of the all-time great sides in European football history, were demoted to Serie B in 2006 but still kept hold of star names like Gianluigi Buffon and Pavel Nedved. Rangers, meanwhile, were able to sign players far superior to the division they were competing in following their expulsion from the Scottish top-flight. Why? Simply because they are Glasgow Rangers.

It's all in the name. Everton is one of those names.

As world champion boxer Tony Bellew roared after his enthralling, spine-tingling victory inside Goodison Park: 'I am Everton'. It's the name. We know our name as does the entire world. The name is Everton Football Club. It will always be a pull for players and warrants respect.

Admittedly, history alone will not win you titles. Nor will a name. However, one historic name with an ambitious billionaire hell-bent on pushing it back to the top must be taken seriously.

If Moshiri can realise his ambitions for the club, the football world is in for one almighty shock and will have no choice but to be reminded of the Everton name.

Forget your modern day giants, they're merely keeping our seat warm on English football's top table.

Everton will always be footballing royalty.