Everton will take solace in the fact that Thierno Barry has made a fast start to the season, scoring three goals and supplying an assist across his first four outings, but it shouldn't hide from the failings of the summer transfer window.

It won't. If the French striker, who joined from Villarreal last summer for £27m, falls to an injury, Everton's summer shortcomings mean one of Brennan Johnson or Tyrique George will be forced to deputise at No. 9. Beto has been sold to Fiorentina, and efforts to sign a last-gasp replacement fell through.

What a mess. The Friedkin Group have a long way to go before they can say they've put things to rights, with deadline-day chaos having jeopardised what might have been a promising season.

Why D-day chaos could ruin Everton's season

Without being too doom-and-gloom, it does feel like David Moyes will be up against it for the foreseeable. His hopes of securing a place in Europe are sure to have dwindled after being shorn of depth, only 18 senior outfield players available until the January transfer window swings open.

Folarin Balogun and Joshua Zirkzee, deadline day targets, both ended up rejecting moves to the Hill Dickinson, so it does now ride on Barry to maintain form and fitness until the winter transfer window. No pressure.

The slightest bit of solace could be taken through the knowledge that Moyes likes to work with a small squad, but even so, the Merseysiders will need injury-related fortune on their side if they are to make progress and avoid stagnancy - or worse, regression, tumbling back down the ladder and toward relegation danger.

Grealish's flair (and fitness) will be vital in keeping things ticking, but Everton did manage to pull off another shrewd signing late on which could have a positive effect on the club.

However, not everyone in the Blues squad will be happy.

Everton mainstay could be finished after late signing

On deadline day, Everton pulled off a shrewd deal to sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon for just £3m. The 29-year-old midfielder-turned-right-back will be expected to patch over a hole on the right side of Moyes' defence which has threatened to derail Everton for a while.

Maitland-Niles is an all-round player, nice and tidy on the ball, combative when protecting the goalmouth. He will expect to start at right-back, and with that in mind, it might be the end for Jake O'Brien, a central defender who has deputised out wide for the lion's share of Moyes' second tenure - such has been the severity of Everton's right-sided crisis.

O'Brien, 25, has been a fine servant for the Toffees, repackaged into a right-back from the get-go in January 2025, when Moyes took over from a beleaguered Sean Dyche and turned the club away from relegation danger in the Premier League.

The 6 foot 5 defender is somewhat sluggish, certainly not mobile in the way a modern Premier League full-back needs to be. He started 35 league games last year, completing 0.2 dribbles per game at a success rate of 30%.

Moreover, he failed to create a single big chance, illustrating the fact that this is a stop-gap solution which has gone on too long. Leeds United expressed an interest in the Republic of Ireland international toward the end of the transfer window, but Everton knew they could not trim any more fat from their defensive underbelly.

Maitland-Niles will bring a more dynamic approach, but even so, it's not the perfect answer. But O'Brien, who joined from Lyon for £17m in 2024, cannot continue in the role if Everton are to grow.

O'Brien has played a part at Everton, but there has been little inkling that Moyes believes he will cement himself as a starring centre-back for this club.

Given that his consistent presence at right-back will only continue to hold the club back, preventing them from expanding as a ball-playing outfit, he may well be nearing the end of his time with the Toffees.

It's time for newbie Maitland-Niles to step up.