As time ticked away towards the close of the January transfer window, it quickly became apparent that it was Eliaquim Mangala or bust as far as Everton's remaining business was concerned.
The response, at least among certain sections of the Goodison Park fanbase, was to not only bemoan not the potential loan capture of the Manchester City defender, but also lay blame firmly at the feet of the Blues' recruitment team for what was deemed to be a dereliction of duty elsewhere. Indeed, for most, the absolute priority should have been securing a new left-back to provide cover in the absence of normal first-choice Leighton Baines.
And so, regardless of the merits or otherwise of signing Mangala on a temporary deal, the Evertonian obsession with adding a new full-back had not been satiated by the time the deadline passed. As a whole, the Blues' business was deemed insufficient, despite tangible signs of progress in other parts of the pitch.
A residing issue from a chequered summer of transfer activity, Everton's dearth of depth and quality in the left-back area has been ruthlessly exposed in recent months by Leighton Baines' long-term absence through injury. With Under-23 left-back Antonee Robinson on loan at Bolton and Luke Garbutt not picked in the initial squad submitted to the Premier League at the start of the season, right-back Cuco Martina has been forced to plug the gap with mixed success. Given the money Everton have spent over the last 18 months- around £250m since major shareholder Farhad Moshiri took over- it's hard to fathom how - and why - the search for reinforcements in the problem position has been neglected to such an extent.
Most of the ire, up to now, has been aimed at director of football Steve Walsh. Keen to recruit Sead Kolasinac over the summer before Arsenal trumped the deal, the ex-Leicester City man has nevertheless failed to meet an important part of his brief in two successive windows. Unimaginative recruitment leading Walsh, Allardyce and Co to the belief that there were no viable upgrades on Martina- a right-back playing out of position- available during the January window.
Coupled with the failure to sign a proven goalscorer during the close season, the pressure is now growing on Walsh externally and internally, with PSV Eindhoven's Marcel Brands recently linked with a move to Goodison Park. The cut-throat nature of modern football is such that transfer gurus such as Walsh are only judged as being as good as their last major signing.
It's almost certainly the case, too, that flaws in the recruitment system have exacerbated the problem. In a framework in which both Allardyce and Walsh are said to have a veto over certain deals, there's a real risk of conflict and disagreement between the two parties - as was the case when Walsh's longer-term ideals rutted up on several occasions against previous manager Ronald Koeman's desire for players for the here and now. It's thus possible to view Everton's left-back woes as being the perfect manifestation of the confusion and inefficiency of the current process.
For the time being, Martina will no doubt continue to plug the gap until Baines returns. The most temporary of sticking plasters to a long-term problem- and one that has already been picked apart by a series of Premier League opponents.
This is the context with which Mangala was received, with some supporter anger spilling over into criticism of the City defender's loan signature. Priorities elsewhere meaning that Mangala was at best the right face at the wrong time, and at worst the wrong face at the wrong time.
On the face of it, central defence is an area in which Everton are already well-stocked. Yet despite the presence of Michael Keane, Phil Jagielka, Mason Holgate and Ashley Williams, Allardyce has still to settle on a favoured combination. The frequency with which changes have been made in that part of the team showing that the Blues manager is not entirely happy with his options at the spine of his team.
“Eliaquim adds power and strength to our defensive unit,” Allardyce told Everton TV on deadline day. "Also, he’s naturally left-footed - we don’t have a natural left-footer in the team at the moment. Michael Keane is not bad with his left foot and Yannick Bolasie is okay, but they are not naturally left-footed.
“Mangala is naturally left-footed so it gives us a little bit of balance down that left-hand side defensively. And when he is playing the ball forward [from that position], he can play it much easier than a right-footed player can.”
Uncomfortable playing Pep Guardiola's expansive style of football, Mangala is certainly not without his flaws. Particularly on the ball, he has a tendency to look clumsy and ill-at-ease. However, for the remainder of the season, it is unlikely that Sam Allardyce will task the ex-Porto man with distributing the ball in anything like the same manner as seen at the Etihad.
Instead, Mangala's defensive attributes should, in the right setup, come to the foreground. Judging by his admittedly quite marked strengths and weaknesses, logic suggests that the towering 26-year-old is more likely to succeed under Allardyce than Guardiola. Pacy, powerful and strong in the air, Mangala will also provide a much-needed left-footed option in the Everton defence. As such, some balance will be added until Baines returns from injury. Given the nature of the deal- a short-term loan with no fee attached- his addition comes at minimal risk.
With Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun also arriving earlier in the window, the Blues appear to have made positive strides forward in a number of important positions. That, though, will not be enough in itself to quell the murmurs of discontent. It was never the case that Everton solely needed to bring in a left-back before the deadline, but the chances are that this window will still be remembered for the failure to bring in a new player there above all else.
A recurrent theme during the last two windows, Everton's lack of success in providing cover for the problem position shows that all is not as it should be recruitment-wise.
If there is one thing to take away from the debacle, it is that permanent steps need to be taken to prevent similar situations from happening in the future - and certain individuals being permanently tainted by their involvement in such failure.
Everton, quite simply, will struggle to progress until those lessons are learned.
