The list of players who have left Everton and are thriving elsewhere is frustratingly long, and could well increase this summer with a few more marquee sales.
Expected to be forced into offloading the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite and Amadou Onana after their latest accounts detailed the fears that many had already outlined, despite Sean Dyche working wonders in progressing the squad, the financial misdeeds of the past continue to plague their present.
And that is no better exemplified than in the sale of one particular academy star, who has gone on to shine elsewhere in the Premier League.
Were it not for the acrimonious manner of his exit, some Evertonians might not be so bitter about his departure.
Theo Walcott thinks Anthony Gordon has progressed well
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, Theo Walcott, who spent three troublesome years contracted to the Toffees, was instead full of praise for a player who has recently left the club.
His time at Goodison Park came during a transitional spell, where they had sort of lost their identity and had desperately sought out Sam Allardyce to offer stability.
However, his reign proved to be short and expensive, with the former Arsenal winger one of his few big purchases who would eventually leave for nothing.
Even though his prediction for the rest of Everton’s season remains largely positive, so too does his assessment of Anthony Gordon’s campaign thus far.
The 35-year-old noted: ‘I have worked with Anthony Gordon at Everton in a close environment and he’s fearless. Now he’s getting the experience, he has that swagger and arrogance about him in a nice way. Yes, he didn’t react in the right way to get his red card.’
Anthony Gordon is thriving for Newcastle United
As tough as it is to admit, Gordon has been thriving since leaving Goodison Park.
It just begs the question as to where that kind of form was when his boyhood club, desperately seeking to drag themselves to safety, needed him.
Across his first full season with Everton’s first-team, the 23-year-old scored just four Premier League goals, three of which were heavily deflected efforts.
The following season he would score three across just half a campaign, before jumping ship at the first time of asking.
And whilst he did recoup a mouth-watering £45m fee, Everton would surely rather have their safety in the division than some meaningless sum they can’t even reinvest.
That is what Gordon’s nine goals and seven assists would surely have cemented, had he stayed and posted such figures for the Toffees.