Kevin Thelwell will always have Everton's gratitude for seeing the club through difficult financial times.
Michael Ball has spoken about the job the Englishman has done at the Premier League club ahead of his move to become Rangers' sporting director at the end of the season.
With the key aim of survival in the world's richest league, the arrival of Everton's new Bramley-Moore Docks Stadium placed strict financial restraints on the club.
Thewell - working as director of football at Goodison - helped to keep first team sales high, bringing in cheaper replacements, while maintaining the club's top-flight status.
Ball told the Daily Record: “When Kev came in to the club in 2022, his remit at that time was totally different to the remit he's operating under now as he prepares to leave the club.
“Back then, Everton were trying to compete and move up the table. Very quickly, though, I think he realised the club wasn't in the stable position he first thought they were under Farhad Moshiri.
“That’s when he had to start moving players out of the football club, which is always the most difficult thing when you've got players on large wages and long contracts.
“Looking back, I think you can see he actually did very well to move a lot of these players on and get good money for them.
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“But he did get a little bit of stick at the time for undervaluing certain players. That, though, was just because the fans weren’t fully aware of just how grim the situation at the club actually was.
“Take for example Richarlison. We sold him to Spurs for £60million and a lot of Evertonians felt we should have got more for a guy who was Brazil’s No9.
“We paid roughly the same fee when he arrived from Watford and most fans expected a bigger profit. Looking back, it was that £60million that pretty much saved the football club.
“It was the same with Anthony Gordon. He moved to Newcastle at a time when Chelsea were splashing out £80m on left-backs, £100m on central midfielders.
“Yet we allowed an English left winger to go for £45m. The fans felt we were getting undercut. But we all know now the financial restraints that were being put on the club at that time and obviously the points deductions that followed.
“If he didn't find buyers for those players, Everton would probably have received a bigger points deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules and that would have threatened the takeover that has now thankfully gone through.
“But Kevin has definitely been operating with a tremendous amount of pressure on his shoulders. He’s basically been working with both hands tied behind his back for his entire time at the club.
“He’s had to move big earners out and bring in cheaper replacements - all the while trying to keep Everton in the Premier League.
“There’s been points deductions, one failed takeovers and almost a second. Kev’s remit during those ups and downs would have changed each time but the fact he coped with it all and fulfilled his targets shows how flexible he is.
“I’ve heard he’s a mean negotiator. He brought two players - Youssef Chermiti and Beto - that cost the club no money up front, only future instalments.
“Getting a club to give you their prize asset without offering up a single penny of up-front cash is pretty impressive.
“There’s a joke going round Liverpool that we’re paying for these guys on Klarna, but it just shows his adaptability.
“He’s arrived expecting to have a massive war chest to spend to now having the opposite, where he’s forced to sell players while trying to keep the club competitive in the world’s richest league.”
