Everton are set to announce Sean Dyche as Frank Lampard's successor at Goodison Park.
The former Burnley manager, who oversaw two promotions with the Clarets during his 10-year spell at Turf Moor, is expected to edge out Marcelo Bielsa, who flew into London for talks with the Blues' hierarchy on Thursday, for the role on Merseyside.
Dyche has been out of work since being sacked by Burnley last April, with the Clarets' under-21s Michael Jackson tasked with trying to keep the club in the Premier League towards the end of the 2021/22 season - before he was replaced by Vincent Kompany during the summer.
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Everton currently find themselves in 19th position in the Premier League, with Southampton only below the Goodison Park outfit on the virtue of goal difference, with the Blues having failed to win a game since October's 3-0 defeat of Crystal Palace.
Upon his arrival on Merseyside, Dyche will be reunited with a couple of familiar faces in the Everton squad who he has previously worked with during his time at Turf Moor.
Here the ECHO looks at those who could benefit from a reunion with the 51-year-old...
Michael Keane
During his six-year spell at Goodison Park, Michael Keane has struggled to recapture the form and consistency he had during his playing days at Burnley.
Arriving at Everton for a then club-record fee of £30m, Keane was signed at a similar time to Jordan Pickford in the hope he would be a stalwart in the Blues' defence for years to come.
While it must be said that working under a string of different managers has certainly not helped the 12-cap England international, it was his in fact his latest manager, Lampard, who gave the clearest indication of where the 30-year-old stood.
Having featured in at least 30 Premier League games in all five of his campaigns since his switch from Lancashire, Keane had only played 22 minutes of top flight action under the former Everton manager this season prior to his sacking on Monday afternoon, with Lampard instead preferring Conor Coady, James Tarkoski and Ben Godfrey.
But under the stewardship of Dyche, Keane played in 79 out of the 84 league outings across his two full campaigns at Turf Moor, one of which included winning the Championship with an impressive 93 points.
Despite being with a mid-season move from Everton, Keane will now surely relish the opportunity of playing under a manager who has previously improved him on his way to becoming a senior England international.
James Tarkowski
Despite only moving to Goodison Park last summer, Tarkowski has already proved to be a shrewd addition to the ranks despite the club's struggles this season.
Having formed a fine partnership with Coady during the early weeks of the Premier League season, which ranked as the division's best pairing at one point, the former Burnley defender has already shown the Blues half of Merseyside that he possesses all the qualities to be a success.
But following the Blues' dire winless run in the Premier League since October, Tarkowski and Coady have struggled to replicate the same form as they did in the early weeks of the campaign.
The arrival of Dyche on Merseyside will no doubt be a pleasing one for Tarkowski, who was part of the record-breaking Clarets team that earned a place in the 2017/18 Europa League qualifiers under the 51-year-old's stewardship.
In fact, only three players have been selected more times in Dyche's career than Tarkowski (212). A stat that underlines just how much trust the soon-to-be Everton boss has in the current Blues defender.
Dwight McNeil
Like Tarkowski, Dwight McNeil made the move from Turf Moor to Goodison Park during the summer of 2022.
Despite being just 23 years old, McNeil made 129 appearances during his time under Dyche at Burnley.
While the former Manchester United academy star has not enjoyed the best start to his career on Merseyside due to Everton's toothless streak in the final third under Lampard, McNeil established himself as a vital cog to Dyche's well-oiled machine in spite of the fact he was made to learn his trade on the job during his adolescent years.
This term, the forward has started 10 Premier League matches under Lampard but only managed to score two goals during that time. And although goalscoring has never been a strength of McNeil's, his most productive season game under Dyche as he contributed a combined eight goals and assists while largely playing off the left-hand side of attack.
Coupled with Dominic Calvert-Lewin's return to fitness in recent weeks, McNeil will hope to enjoy a similar relationship with the Everton No.9 as he did with Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes during his time in Lancashire.
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