Everton's summer transfer window ended on Tuesday in much more quiet fashion than many might have expected.
The Blues had been on the hunt for quality additions to their squad throughout the previous few months and confirmed a number of arrivals before the deadline passed.
Andros Townsend, Asmir Begovic, Demarai Gray, Andy Lonergan and Salomon Rondon all completed moves to Goodison Park over the summer - although a number of key positions were still without new arrivals.
READ MORE: Five free agents Everton could still sign after deadline day
Everton weren't able to secure a right-back or the midfielder that Rafa Benitez would have liked to bring to Merseyside, but the price of the club's business was impressive when compared to the rest of the league.
And the transfer window on the whole was the latest important discussion point on our Royal Blue Podcast.
Host Phil Kirkbride was joined by Adam Jones and Connor O'Neill to talk over a potential "turning point" Everton showed throughout the transfer window and the important quality Benitez managed to secure in his signings.
Listen to the latest episode of the Royal Blue Podcast in full HERE
Phil: A lot of money, despite this being a market which has seen clubs suffering losses from the pandemic, was spent this summer.
Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal were the biggest spenders if I'm right? Man United obviously spending a lot of money as well.
But for what we've done, signing five players and spending less than £2m, I think most observers would say that Everton probably ended up getting the most bang for their buck.
Adam: It's mad isn't it, the clubs that you've mentioned as big spenders there were all skint a few months ago when they were trying to make the Super League weren't they? I wonder where all that money's come from...
Going back to Everton though, did they spend the least money out of Premier League sides this summer? I think I saw something on Twitter suggesting that.
You wouldn't have imagined that coming into this year given the experience we've had over the last few summers of previous managers coming in - Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce spending £40m on two players which was hilarious...
Phil: ...but of course one of the reasons we've had to spend so little is because of those previous managers!
Adam: Well that's it, there was an impending sense that this kind of transfer window was creeping up.
Unfortunately for Benitez it's fell on his shoulders to do it, but in terms of getting bang for your buck I don't think there's much more Everton could have done with the players they've brought in for those prices.
For only spending little over £1.7m to bring in a number of quality, experienced players in the Premier League - these are players Benitez knows he can depend on.
I think that's a really important aspect. He wasn't able to maybe massively improve quality across the pitch, he wasn't able to balance out the full back positions, maybe wasn't able to get the midfielder he might have liked.
But he has brought in a lot of players he can trust. When you're a new manager at a new club, something like that could be invaluable for you over the first few months.
I think he'll be very content with those players he's brought in, for the price he's got them as well.
Phil: Adam makes an interesting point there, less than £2m on five players all with Premier League experience.
We've rightly said it's been an imperfect window and there's still gaps in the squad, but also the football club have done well in that respect.
With financial fair play issues, which are of their own making of course, to get those players with Premier League experience is impressive - normally the transfer fees would be astronomical for five players with Premier League experience.
Connor: Yeah absolutely. For me, the pleasing thing for me is getting players where it's clear what they bring to the table.
We know what Rondon is going to bring, we know what Townsend is going to bring. Gray is probably the one who is a little unpredictable, but you know he's got pace and likes to drive with the ball.
That was the big thing for me, far too many times over the years we've signed players and then been left scratching our heads asking what exactly they're going to bring, what position they'll play, what their best assets are.
For us to not have that problem for me was a massive turning point in part of our recruitment.
Rafa came in, saw what we needed, and brought them in straight away. We've got to bottle that and take it forward, possibly into January or next summer.
We're reaping the benefits already of having two lads come in and hit the ground running.
