Farhad Moshiri's seven years as owner of Everton football club have been chaotic, to say the least.
Record-breaking transfers, relegation battles and a whole host of managerial sackings have all culminated in their demise towards the foot of the Premier League table and while moving into a state-of-the-art stadium in 2024 could transform their mood, it could have the opposite effect if the Toffees are a Championship club by that point.
The Toffees have survived relegation by the skin of their teeth in recent campaigns and unless Sean Dyche somehow performs some miracles, another battle against the drop is on the cards.
Unfortunately, the main reason for their downward spiral has been their constant lapses of misjudgement in the transfer market, paying the price for shelling obscene amounts of cash on disappointing talent.
The likes of Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Sandro Ramirez, Yannick Bolasie, Davy Klaasen and Cenk Tosun – a list that is by no means exhaustive – have all foregrounded the bitterly disappointing transfer strategy that has been carried out since Moshiri took to the helm.
Everton have ultimately fallen victim to throwing money down the drain on talent that promised to deliver so much and it was the arrivals of Bolasie and Morgan Schneiderlin in 2016/17 that kickstarted this trend.
The background behind Everton's signing of Morgan Schneiderlin
Everton captured the defensive midfielder for £24m from Manchester United in January 2017, reuniting him with former manager Ronald Koeman, who he spent a season under at Southampton.
The Frenchman originally left St Mary's for Old Trafford in 2015 for a similar fee but struggled to make inroads into the first team during Jose Mourinho's time in charge.
He only featured on 47 occasions for the club and struggled to hold down his place in the matchday squad, perhaps foreshadowing how the rest of his career would plan out.
Departing the club in acrimonious circumstances, Schneiderlin later revealed that he "lost himself as a player" at Man United due to a multitude of reasons, but it was the demands set by then manager Louis van Gaal that affected him the most.
He said: "It was not just the manager's fault, it was my fault, too. My role was not the one I had at Southampton. I felt restricted in my game. I felt they wanted to change things in me. I was not thinking as me, I was thinking about what pleased the coach.
"When you reach that point, every pass you make, everything you do, you don't play free. Something stopped me from being who I was. I wanted so much to do well and it is one of the most frustrating things ever."
Having lost himself at one of the biggest clubs in the world, the Frenchman struggled to recapture the form that saw him burst onto the scene at Southampton as a youngster, and pay back the original price tag with exceptional performances.
Morgan Schneiderlin's statistical record at Everton
Schneiderlin arrived at Everton when Ronald Koeman was spearheading their charge towards Europe and he would have expected the 27-year-old, at the time, to become the anchor of their ship.
A tough-tackling defensive midfielder with a sublime passing range, Schneiderlin boasted the desirable ingredients for a European charge in the Dutchman's possession-based style.
The 6 foot 1 anchorman had previously showcased an ability to recycle possession for his team, caress line-breaking passes through to his attackers and read the game superbly to sniff out danger.
Those were all attributes that saw Rio Ferdinand earmark him as a replacement for Michael Carrick at Man United and Koeman partnered him next to the energetic and tenacious midfielder, Idrissa Gueye.
Although he promised to deliver those sought-after attributes for the Toffees, instead the Frenchman, quite simply, didn't endear himself well to the Goodison Park faithful and this was embodied by his lack of discipline on and off the field. In 88 appearances for the club, he was shown 14 yellow cards and three red cards, channelling his aggression in the wrong way.
Given his subpar performances, Schneiderlin's exit was mooted for a while, but it didn't happen till the summer of 2020 as OGC Nice paid £2m to lure him back to France.
The total cost of Schneiderlin's time at Everton
During his three-and-a-half-year stint at the club, he earned a whopping £22.8m in wages, as per Capology.
Indeed, when adding his initial transfer fee of £24m to that total, Schneiderlin drained Everton of a staggering £46.8m, as the club's finances took a monumental hit without significant returns on the pitch.
£120k
£90k
£75k
£70k
£70k
Remarkably, the Frenchman's wage of £120k per week saw him become the club's highest earner after signing in the 2016/17 campaign. He was on more money than several key players in the squad, including Romelu Lukaku, Idrissa Gueye and Ross Barkley.
Schneiderlin unfortunately symbolises Everton's habit of draining the club's resources on woeful talent.
Schneiderlin's career path since leaving Everton
Since leaving Goodison Park in 2020, the 33-year-old has become a journeyman, plying his trade in three different countries.
Having made 59 appearances for Ligue 1 giants OGC Nice, he moved to the other side of the world to sign for Western Sydney Wanderers, but only made 11 appearances in the A-League before packing his bags once more and relocating to Greek Super League side, A.E Kifisias.
While his career has taken a downward spiral, much like Everton's fortunes, Schneiderlin admitted in a recent interview during his brief time in Australia that he could still be at Manchester United if he played to his full potential, as per the Daily Mail.
He said: "I know if I played to my full potential, with freedom, I would not be in Australia right now.
"Maybe I would still be at Manchester United. When I signed, I wanted to be a legend there. That is why I am mad with myself and it will be hard until the end of my life.
"My friends ask, 'Why are you saying this?' But I know myself and what I can bring. I know this time at Manchester United affected me for the longest period in my career. I was so frustrated I couldn't give what I wanted."
The Frenchman failed to recapture the form that saw him become one of several big-money departures out of Southampton and ultimately, never recovered from his damaging spell at Man United, nor his disastrous time at Everton.