Everton's recent transfer missteps have been well-documented, however, the last decade has unsurprisingly not been the only example of high-profile blunders made by the club.
Big-money howlers and allowing players to leave for cut-price deals have arguably become synonymous with the Toffees, with Farhad Moshiri seemingly only seeking to exacerbate that horrendous reputation with his exploits.
Whilst many will point to signing the likes of Yerry Mina and Jean-Philippe Gbamin as the outstanding financial drains on the club in recent years, marking their worst deals, perhaps some other fans might cite the club sanctioning the sale of Martin Keown for a nominal fee compared to the player he would soon become as another high-profile mistake.
Why did Martin Keown leave Everton?
Whilst a wholly different kind of blunder in the transfer market, it seemed a foregone conclusion that they would lose their top up-and-coming defensive talent to the high-flying Arsenal, as the 56-year-old would recount the day he was told he'd be leaving: "I thought I was going into the manager’s office to negotiate a contract extension, instead he ended up offering me a new club!
"Then in true Howard Kendall style he opened a bottle of champagne and toasted the move with me!
“Arsenal was the only place I’d have left Everton to join. It was a move back down south, although my son was born in Merseyside and is a Scouser."
It is often tough when the big clubs come calling, but it was especially frustrating as the steely centre-back seemed to offer some stability for a side struggling to transition from their uber-successful period in the 1980s.
What mainly made the move so frustrating was that the Gunners had to pay just £2m for a man who would go on to feature 428 times for them, winning ten major honours including that invincible Premier League trophy.
The 6 foot 1 stalwart has since become a "legend" at the north London outfit, as branded by journalist John Cross, and is widely recognised as one of the best defenders of his era.
Whilst his recent exploits in punditry might come across as polarising, his talent as a footballer cannot be denied. Talent that was allowed to explode at Goodison Park.
This trend of losing their top assets to the bigger clubs has travelled through to the modern-day side too, with John Stones, Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku all leaving for what they deemed to be a step up.
It seems to actually retain their best players Everton need to match their ambition, but Moshiri needs to learn how to do so in a controlled manner to avoid even more transfer failures.
