Everton look to be closing in on a potential solution to a problem that plagued them throughout the 2019/20 season.
The Blues have made a breakthrough in negotiations with Napoli star Allan and a £22m deal is believed to be on the brink of being agreed.
That will be music to the ears of Carlo Ancelotti, who has clearly identified his midfield as a clear area for improvement over the course of this important summer transfer window.
The potential arrival of the Brazilian will surely go some way to solving a multitude of issues in that part of the pitch, although another signing to go alongside the 29-year-old could well be needed too.
Everton suffered too many disappointing results last season, but there are particular examples that perfectly sum up the midfield issues that plagued them throughout.
We've picked out the five key performances in which Allan could have proven very useful to his potential future employers.
Everton 0-2 Norwich
The game that effectively ended Marco Silva's time in charge of the club, even if he hung on for a little while longer afterwards.
Signs of concern had been on display throughout the season of course but this was just about as bad as it got for the Portuguese boss during his spell.
Bottom-of-the-table Norwich City came to Goodison Park and took all three points back to Carrow Road with them, and Evertonians made their feelings very clear during and after the defeat.
One aspect of the game that stuck out even at the time was the distinct lack of creativity that the Blues had shown, clearly not helped in midfield by the recent serious injury to Andre Gomes.
On this occasion it was Morgan Schneiderlin and Tom Davies in the midfield two just in front of the back four, with Gylfi Sigurdsson in a more advanced role.
Going forward, they were laboured and were not able to effectively break through the visiting back line, and they were eventually punished for that.
The problem was typified by Todd Cantwell's goal which saw the opposition midfielder breeze through the centre of Everton, unchallenged, to latch onto the ball in the box and score.
Someone more effective in pressing and tracking back defensively would have been key here. Those are two qualities many will hope Allan brings to Merseyside.
Leicester 2-1 Everton
Next up for Everton was a trip to face Leicester City, and things didn't get much better for the boss.
What is interesting here is that Silva did try to change his system, opting for a 5-4-1 which in fact proved fairly effective in the first half.
After seeing his side take the lead, he might have thought the pressure was lifting on him somewhat - but individual errors came back to bite his side.
And they stemmed from that midfield area.
For Jamie Vardy's equalising goal, it was Davies losing out in a 50/50 challenge further up the pitch which gave Leicester the opportunity they needed to capitalise.
Then, the same player again was involved right before Kelechi Iheanacho went on to bag a dramatic late winner.
The Everton midfielder attempted a pass to Sigurdsson to try and potentially nick a winner for his side but the ball was slack, behind its intended target and was almost begging for the hosts to take advantage of.
Someone with a more level head and someone more effective in possession would have been very useful for the Blues on this occasion.
Again, Allan should provide that.
Chelsea 4-0 Everton
Skipping ahead a little takes us to one of the worst performances Ancelotti has seen during his time with Everton.
Unfortunately for him it came at the home of his former employers, Chelsea.
From the early stages of this game it was clear the Blues were going to struggle. The opposing system allowed the hosts to have an extra man in midfield and they managed to take full advantage of that.
Davies and a returning Gomes were the midfield two on this occasion and they had no answer to the onslaught of Chelsea attacks that came, wave after wave.
Mason Mount in particular was having a field day in terms of getting in behind the midfield and being able to attack the Everton defence. Sometimes it seemed as if the visitors had no-one playing in that area of the pitch.
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Of course the midfield was far from the only issue on this occasion. Defensively the Blues were hugely lacking, the wingers faded into almost nothing.
But even in a creative sense Ancelotti saw his side fumble here. Across the 90 minutes, they were only able to make two key passes throughout the game.
Both going forward and defensively, there was a gaping hole in Everton's midfield that the addition of Allan should go some way towards solving.
Spurs 1-0 Everton
Things looked particularly grim for Everton's midfield following the return from lockdown.
Issues had, as previously mentioned, reared themselves on numerous occasions throughout the term - but they were seemingly amplified in an environment with so many games in a brief period of time.
Right from the first whistle against Spurs, the hosts looked like they had identified the problem area of their opponents and they were hell bent on exploiting it.
It wasn't the most exciting game for any neutrals watching, but Jose Mourinho's side were effective at their task at hand.
Gary Neville, on commentary for the game, picked out one particular attempt at a challenge from Sigurdsson in the first half for criticism - accusing the Blues star of "bottling" the challenge.
This was the kind of match in which Everton missed the influence of Idrissa Gueye the most.
The Senegal international was so full of energy both in and out of possession, was keen to throw himself into tackles and was underrated in his ability to bring the ball forwards too.
Can Allan step into that role next season if his move is completed? Evertonians will certainly hope so.
Wolves 3-0 Everton
Again, one of the worst performances for the entire side had a gaping hole in its centre.
The Blues were severely lacking in effort on this occasion and that left the manager questioning the attitude of his players following the final whistle.
But again the line-up caused a bit of intrigue ahead of this particular game.
As it transpired Everton eventually ended up with a midfield three of Davies, Sigurdsson and the impressive Anthony Gordon.
However, aside from a little flurry at the beginning of the match, they hardly looked comfortable in their new system - with the latter youngster looking the most suited.
Things changed to a more recognisable system in the second period but by then it was too late, Wolves had taken full control.
The hosts were breezing up the pitch just as easily as Chelsea had found things a few months previously.
There was no bite in Everton's midfield, no-one capable of taking the game by the scruff of the neck and pressing opponents into mistakes.
Again, the hope will certainly be that Allan will change that.
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