Everton director Marcel Brands has left the club with immediate effect after spending three-years on Merseyside.
The 59-year-old joined in 2018 for three-years, signing a new three-year extension at the club in April. However, that is being cut short, with the Liverpool Echo reporting that the transfer guru has been relieved of his duties.
The director of football spent his career before the Toffees in Dutch football, working in the same role at PSV Eindhoven, AZ Alkmaar and RKC Waalwijk.
In recent weeks, he has come under scrutiny for his part in the recruitment at the club, who have failed to perform.
Fans voiced their complaints at the board in a recent Merseyside derby thrashing at the hands of Liverpool, with some chanting “sack the board”; some confronted players over the performances and a banner was on display that said: “We demand Nil Satis Nisi Optimum. It is about time our club did too."
The decision comes just a day before the club face Arsenal at Goodison Park on Monday night in the Premier League.
The Toffees sit 16th, just five points from the drop and without a win in eight league games.
As for the Gunners, they sit in seventh and could move into fifth with a win.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping to bounce back from his side’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United last time out at Old Trafford.
The match at Goodison Park represents a return to Arteta’s old stomping ground, somewhere he played as a midfielder during his playing days.
On the test ahead of his players, he said: “A team that wants to put things right and win, and on Monday night at Goodison I know what I am going to expect under the lights with the fans they have so it will be a tough game.”
