Research into progressive passes over the last ten years in the Premier League have revealed the huge influences of both Leighton Baines and Romelu Lukaku at Everton.
The former retired from football at the end of the 2019/20 campaign having enjoyed 13 years as a fan-favourite at Goodison Park, and returned in a coaching role shortly after that announcement.
The striker, meanwhile, left the club in 2017 in a big-money transfer to Manchester United - but is now relishing his opportunity to play in Serie A with Inter Milan.
Both were fantastic players during their respective times on Merseyside, and new research has added an extra layer as to just how good they were.
Twitter account "@topimpacat" has published findings surrounding progressive passes since 2009/10 in the Premier League, with that being defined as "a completed open play pass which moves the ball at least 25% and 10 metres closer to the centre of the opponent's goal."
There was also a requirement for the pairings to have made at least 50 starts together, and only passes from open play would count towards the total.
The aim of the data was to show the player combinations which have created the most progressive passes from that season onwards, and Everton come out of the data very well.
Three of the top five pairings were from the Blues, with Baines being involved in both of the top two places - with Steven Pienaar in first and with Lukaku in second.
The left-back and the South Africa international winger were known throughout their time with Everton as having an almost telepathic connection down the left-hand side of the pitch.
Often they would cause nightmares for Premier League defences, and it's now been revealed they averaged an extremely impressive four progressive passes between each other in each match together.
Baines also enjoyed a positive relationship with Lukaku during the pair's time as teammates if these stats are anything to go by.
They were second on the list with an average of 3.4 progressive passes per match, level with Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas during their spells at Chelsea.
Lukaku appears again in fourth in that particular category, this time alongside former Everton midfielder Gareth Barry with 3.3 progressive passes per match.
Arsenal pair Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez made up the top five, but the stats represent an extremely impressive showing for past Blues players.
