"If you look at the acquisitions we've made over the last couple of years, there is a consistency with the type of players we have targeted in the age and quality.
"We will continue down that road for the first-team in that 20-25 category, that's the spot we like."
He continued: "But at the same time, the reason I don't like to box myself in with this answer is that opportunities come up that fit with what the manager wants and what you need for the squad, that might be out of that box.
"Nothing is set in stone. We have a clear set of targets that are well defined but, at the same time, we are pragmatic to take the opportunity if that opportunity comes up."
It could so easily have been a message delivered by Everton's director of football Marcel Brands.
Instead, these are the words of Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who gave an interview to the club's in-house media team, this week.
Man City have, so far this summer, bought Valencia winger Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake from Bournemouth. Torres is 20 and Ake is 25.
But, according to widespread reports, Pep Guardiola is also set on adding experience to his squad, as City look to reclaim the title, in the shape of 29-year-old centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.
In the words of the City chairman, he is not a player who fits into their usual transfer box. But, clearly, he is a player Guardiola feels as essential to tightening up a leaky defence. A player they are willing to make an exception for and pay Napoli a handsome sum to secure.
So what about Everton? Brands, too, has previously set out the club's strategy as targeting players in that age bracket - "20-25/26" was his actual quote - but is there wriggle room at Goodison too? Is that outlook not set in stone either? And are there opportunities this summer for the Blues?
Perhaps it's more a case of opportunity and need.
Last summer, Everton brought in the then 29-year-old Fabian Delph, from City, for a relative modest £8.5m in the hope he would add experience and leadership to the club's engine room.
That need hasn't gone away with Carlo Ancelotti identifying both Allan, of Napoli, and Watford's Abdoulaye Doucoure as players he would like to bring to the club.
For context, Doucoure turns 28 on January 1 while Allan is 30 a week later.
And in sanctioning deals for either, or both, of the players, it would be a clear sign that Everton are backing the manager, not necessarily with the type of transfer kitty some recent Blues bosses have been given (it won't be a "big spending" summer Brands has already said) but in the type of players - at whatever age - he feels he needs to improve the squad.
The average age of starting XI from the final game of the season was 25.5 and especially in the side's weakest area - central midfield - Ancelotti wants greater experience.
Last summer, Marco Silva was in full agreement over the signing of Delph but would not get Mario Mandzukic, the seasoned centre-forward he wanted to help carry the scoring burden with Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
All of Everton's other permanent outfield signings fell within the 20-25/26 age bracket but it appears as though there could be a slight shift in emphasis in this window because Ancelotti, just like Guardiola, sees it as essential that experience is added to his squad.
The Blues have signed, with significant input from the manager, 19-year-old Niels Nkounkou, a left-back for the future and a player who fit into that 20-25/6 age bracket may well be sought on the right-wing, for example.
What should be Carlo Ancelotti's priority in the transfer window? Let us know in the comments below
Ancelotti, we cannot forget, also wanted to sign 25-year-old Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg before he moved to Spurs and was behind the pursuit of 22-year-old defender Gabriel Magalhaes before Everton pulled out of talks recently.
But the sense is that the Italian wants more seasoned, hardened pros in the engine room in order to kick-start his reign.
Idrissa Gueye, who was never more important to the team when he left for Paris Saint Germain, was 29. His absence is still being felt.
What remains to be seen is to what extent Everton are prepared, or able, to finance that injection of experience. For example, Delph, at 29, signed a three-year-deal and came in for £8.5m with his wages, at City at least, said to be £90,000 a week - but the Blues are now operating in the marketplace shaped by Covid-19.
Both Napoli and Watford, open to selling Allan and Doucoure, are said to want £30m for each of their players but given what Brands made clear on spending, it seems unlikely the Blues would be prepared to pay that.
As for their wages, Doucoure was reported to be on £70,000 a week at Vicarage Road while Allan is said to pocket around £38,000 a week with the Italian club.
Hojbjerg, into the final year of his contract at Southampton, was valued at around £15m by the club. He is said to have signed a £100,000-a-week deal with Tottenham.
Everton have already taken a sizeable chunk out of their wage bill already this summer but insist that it needs to be reduced further before players can be brought in.
And, at this stage, it looks as though they want to make room for players outside of their usual target market. Just as the City chairman said.
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