Allan first through the door as Everton confirm capture of Brazilian

But my worry is where does Gomes fit into the scheme of things?

He is the one of the two players, Holgate being the other, who can spray a perfect cross-field pass!!!

James Rodriguez is the icing on the cake.

"Professor" Ancelotti!

It's a good piece of dealing by Brands and Co if we get all three of them, at the quoted costs.

Hopefully the start of an era where Everton gets back its pride and can challenge the top six.

Complete overhaul of midfield, exactly what we needed.

Now it's time for Carlo to coach them up.

Second best midfield of my time: Pip, Arteta, Cahill
Best midfield of my time: Barry, McCarthy, Barkley

Allan, Doucouré, Rodriguez: where will they fall in the pecking order? Time will tell, but I'm excited to see where we go from here.

Each summer transfer window is different, so I'm all excited again for an outcome we're going to witness in the near future. C-O-Y-B!

Cillessen talk seems to be gathering pace. Even though he sat on the Valencia bench for some of last season he won't be coming to us to do the same. Maybe Jordan is under serious threat.

Who is the keeper this afternoon? Everyone on international duty.

Rodriguez and Doucouré give us depth, experience and quality, assuming they sign too.

I'm assuming that will be it – bar teenage prospects or maybe a free transfer goalie who is better than Léssl (and possibly Pickford too).

It remains an extremely competitive league, however. So it will be interesting to see what Ancelotti can do with a squad that is still probably about 7th best (at best).

A Mourinho meltdown and an injury to Vardy or Aubameyang would make things very interesting.

We needed this signing to show Everton's ambitions for the future, as the signing of this player could bring in other players that will improve the team.

I think the success of this transfer may well depend on Allans level of professionalism and conditioning. Is he going to be more Distin (who was still an incredible athlete in his mid 30s) or Rooney (who had almost totally lost his acceleration and top speed) by the time he hit 30)?

Unlike Gareth Barry a lot of Allans game when at its best is based on covering ground quickly. Fingers crossed.

The player will add some much needed bite to our midfield. I hope he can pick up the lingo quick, as we need him barking at his teammates.

Like most I was pretty despondent at the end of the season and we all knew that our midfield was the main issue, my glass is now filling up nicely with positivity!

Made up to finally see one of our intended targets wearing the Royal Blue, and echo fellow TWers' appreciation of Carlo, Brands, and the negotiating team for getting this across the line.

As to what the formation will be, we'll have to see, but assuming the others arrive soon and are fit, it will be interesting to see if all three along with Gomes will be employed as a unit.

Still think we need a couple more in at right-back, goalkeeper and possibly a striker too, but there is still nearly a month in the Transfer Calendar to organise something. A lot will depend on who we can move on too, like most windows, there is always a flurry of activity in the last day or two.

I think what's a little bit more uncertain is how this very short pre-season will affect teams. We have played Blackpool when the players had only been back in training for a short period, then yesterday played Preston NE with most of the first team away on International duty. With also the likelihood of having 3 new players in the squad for the Spurs game, it will be interesting to see what our line up will be.

So not an ideal preparation for the start of the season, but I am sure most teams will be in the same position. I don't see the sense of International games taking place a week before the season starts.

Anyway welcome Chesney!!