Everton made five new signings in the winter transfer window, with Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli joining the squad on Deadline Day alongside the new manager Frank Lampard, however, both signings haven't worked out the way they planned.
Alli has been anonymous for Everton only playing just 169 minutes since he joined over 3 months ago, whereas van de Beek has been given slightly more opportunity to prove himself in the team playing 430 minutes in six appearances.
However, on that evidence, it's hardly a surprise that talkSPORT's Simon Jordan said after they signed that they were the "runts of the litter" at Manchester United and Tottenham.
The £34m van de Beek is on loan from Man United following a problematic time at Old Trafford with only four Premier League starts for his parent club, and was given a lifeline at Goodison Park to prove his worth, but has failed to make a significant impact.
Van de Beek has not scored or assisted in the game time he has tallied up with the Toffees so far from his position in the centre of the pitch, with his most impactful performance coming in his full debut in a 3-0 win over Leeds United.
According to SofaScore, the 25-year-old made four tackles, one interception, one key pass and was successful in three out of four of his aerial duels over his 90 minutes played which led to Lampard hailing his signing "great". Sadly, he has not since been able to emulate this performance.
One of the most notable Everton displays since the Toffees boss joined the club was the 5-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last month, where van de Beek put in a shocking performance losing the majority of his duels and proving unsuccessful in 100% of his crosses leading to Lampard benching the midfielder in the 59th minute.
Since then the Man Utd loanee, who was labelled "not that good" by Marco van Basten and "anonymous" by writer Peter Guy, has missed out on the last four fixtures following a thigh injury, and with the team securing a victory this weekend following Fabian Delph's return to the side, it would be interesting if he even makes it back into the team against Leicester City a week on Wednesday.
Everton have a number of midfielders in the squad with Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan, Delph and Andre Gomes to name a few, so with reports mounting that the club want to sign the Dutch maestro permanently, it seems like a pointless venture and a waste of money when you factor in his mediocre impact.
With the Dutchman's former coach Erik ten Hag expected to become the next United manager, it would be more likely that he parts ways with the Merseyside club and takes his chances at getting back into the team at Old Trafford.
Lampard should certainly see it as a blessing in disguise as Everton needs to tighten their belt financially.