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It had to happen, for the sake of Dele Alli’s career as much as Frank Lampard’s need for as speedy an overhaul as possible at Everton.

The Tottenham playmaker’s move to Goodison Park, initially on a free transfer with add-ons dependent on performance and appearances, brings an end to a seven-year spell in north London which was once spectacular, but has since been marked by stagnation and then decline.

That might make the 25-year-old an unusual poster signing to kickstart Lampard’s reign on Merseyside. Yet there are arguably few coaches better placed to help rejuvenate the former England international, given the similarity of their positions during Lampard’s own playing career.

There is also the example set by Lampard’s time managing Chelsea. Even if the job came too soon for him, the impact of a transfer embargo allowed him to put his trust in young midfielders like Mason Mount. They were given freedom, a license for individuality checked by guidance from one of the country’s greatest in their position. It’s exactly what Alli needs.

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At his most effective, in Spurs’ title challenges of 2015-16 and 2016-17, he operated as a No. 10 behind Harry Kane. A combination of injuries, and the widening gaps in the midfield behind him, led to Alli dropping deeper and never quite possessing the physicality for combat in the middle.

At the same time, his pace had withered and the panache which once lit up White Hart Lane and beyond – the tricks, flicks, and overhead kicks – turned into mis-hit passes and squander. A player whose first touch as a professional footballer, as a substitute for MK Dons, was an audacious backheel, has quite evidently lost the basic joy of kicking a football.

The hope, for Lampard, is that his other major signing, Donny van de Beek (who has joined on loan from Manchester United) will provide the balance necessary for Alli to thrive. The Dutchman has never been so flamboyant but he is hugely influential as a pacesetter (when played regularly).

Allan would offer similar checks on Alli, occupying the holding role while he competes with Abdoulaye Doucouré and Andre Gomes for a freer role. Lampard will also have Tom Davies and Fabian Delph as options; Rafael Benitez did not utilise them, but nor did he seem to have any idea who he wanted to shoulder the greater responsibility going forward (if anyone).

On current evidence, Alli may not have the spark to make it happen. Three years ago, he admitted muscle injuries meant he “hadn’t scored as many goals or got as many assists”. He hoped he had been improving “defensively, in possession”, conscious that his statistics were dwindling.

Circumstances have made that difficult, though, and on several occasions he has been forced to play as a false nine, burdened with filling in for Kane out of position. There will be no need for that at Everton, who have four centre-forwards on the books.

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It is understandable if Toffees fans are a little hesitant. They lauded Colombian icon James Rodriguez, only for his spell to fizzle out through injury and for him to fly away without permission before the season had ended. Like James, Alli’s early career achievements, including back-to-back Young Player of the Year awards and a World Cup quarter-final goal, are no longer enough to sustain him.

In 2020, when Alli scored his 50th Premier League goal, it was remarked that he had achieved that feat faster than Lampard, Eden Hazard, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard. Two years on, and his tally now sits at 51.

To revive this stalling prodigy, Lampard is unlikely to pull the same tricks as Jose Mourinho, leaving him out of matchday squads, berating him as a “f___ing lazy guy” in front of his teammates (and the Amazon cameras). Alli has always benefited from an arm around the shoulder, blossoming under the more paternal Mauricio Pochettino and losing inspiration at Spurs under three permanent managers in two years.

Jesse Lingard is an obvious parallel; maybe a belated one now that he is struggling for minutes at Manchester United once again. But his brief loan at West Ham resurrected the form of a player who was long assumed to have burned out.

If Alli can have half that impact under Lampard, Everton will have got the best out of what is, deep down, a very special player.

Keep track of every single done deal in the Premier League here.

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“Just imagine what they’re going to do in the summer.”

The WhatsApp from an agent who had talked to Newcastle’s ownership group several times over their frantic January strikes at the heart of the contradiction that looms over St James’ Park.

The Magpies are a club transformed by their autumn takeover but still imprisoned by the circumstances they inherited.

A £90million spend that included deals for current England and Brazil internationals – as well as the top scorer of one of their direct relegation rivals – has undoubtedly pushed the dial in Newcastle’s favour in the survival battle. But the very fact they entered the transfer window 17^th, light on firepower and in desperate need of strengthening the spine of the team meant selling clubs could sniff black and white blood.

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All over Europe, Newcastle tabled bids for players who ticked the dual boxes of improving the team and being able to “plug in and play” in the Premier League. Lille’s Sven Botman, considered by one recruitment source who spoke to i as the “best young defender in Europe”, was the subject of several bids. They asked about the price and circumstances of Benfica’s Darwin Nunez. Diego Carlos, Sevilla’s talismanic centre-back, was the subject of two weeks of intense interest.

But just as they found with Jesse Lingard and Manchester United’s attempt to squeeze a £12million survival bonus out of Newcastle, availability was the biggest problem Newcastle’s new-look transfer team encountered.

“If teams won’t sell, you have a problem,” a senior source told i earlier in the window. “These clubs will realise what we’re all about in time. We won’t set a precedent which will be held against us in the years to come.”

So they got busy doing what they could: paying a premium for Lyon’s Bruno Guimaraes who has the potential to be a top class number six. Kieran Trippier was, in the words of the same senior source, “the perfect deal”. Chris Wood will shoulder the scoring burden while Dan Burn shakes things up at the back.

It seriously upgrades Newcastle’s squad but offers no guarantees against them going down. There’s a nagging suspicion that the team might not have enough goals in it and for all that they have spent £90million on new players, it feels like their investment in Eddie Howe is going to be the key one.

Howe will have to mould the new arrivals into a unit and find ways of making the team more threatening going forward. Wood is useful at Premier League level but it’s impossible to ignore the fact they could really have done with another striker – or even paying the money for Lingard.

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Put out to the Tyneside public for grading, most fans came back with a score between 7 and 8 out of 10 for the new owners’ first window. And we now know more about their driving football principles: no prima donnas, no players on their way out and certainly no moves for expensive players like Ousmane Dembele, consistently linked with a move to Newcastle without there ever having been interest.

“We were linked with more than 100 players. A lot of them were agents trying to use us,” a senior source said. They had better get used to it as they start to plan for a summer in which everyone accepts it will be easier to do deals with rivals who have weeks rather than a month to source a replacement.

“Maybe if that offer comes along in the summer, then things might have changed,” Sevilla’s Sporting Director Monchi said of their series of bids for Carlos. And that tells you a lot about how the landscape will change for Newcastle in the summer months.

But everyone knows they need to be a Premier League team to make it happen. A tense few months lie ahead.

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Newcastle United are pushing again to strike a deal for Jesse Lingard after missing out on the signing of promising Reims forward Hugo Ekitike.

The Magpies would be content with their January business even if a deal for Manchester United midfielder Lingard proves impossible, and will bolster their defensive ranks with an £11m move for Dan Burn of Brighton and a loan deal for Aston Villa’s Matt Targett, who will add competition at left-back.

But Lingard would make up for the disappointment of missing out on Ekitike, the 19-year-old striker who has opted to stay in France despite significant overtures from the Magpies.

As reported by i on Sunday, the deal for Lingard was still on the table heading into deadline day and it would enable the Magpies to sign off an impressive month with a flourish.

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Lingard is keen to sign for Newcastle or West Ham, who have also made an offer, and has the green light from Ralf Rangnick to leave but Manchester United are undecided about letting him go.

They were demanding a £12m bonus if Newcastle stay up on top of other conditions and while the Magpies have tweaked the terms on offer, they are nowhere near that. It is still a very substantial financial package on offer and there are suggestions from sources close to the deal the Red Devils may be prepared to accept less than that.

Lingard simply wants to play and sees the Newcastle offer – especially given their impressive business in January – as an attractive one. If the club stay up, he would be likely to commit his future past the end of the campaign.

Newcastle would benefit from more firepower with Chris Wood and Dwight Gayle their only senior strikers as Callum Wilson recovers from injury until March.

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They had hoped to add another forward but sources in France say deadline day target Ekitike, dubbed the “next Kylian Mbappe” for his emergence in Ligue 1, has opted to stay at his current club amid concerns about whether he will get enough regular first-team football to continue his development.

Newcastle always faced a race against time to secure that deal with new Brexit rules leaving the club with a mountain of paperwork to complete before the 11pm deadline. They had struck the framework of a deal with Reims which would have been worth around £20m.

The Magpies had put together a development plan for him and his entourage to show he would have a path to becoming a first team regular but it appears he will now stay in France.

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Jermain Defoe’s return to Sunderland is set to be announced imminently.

The 39-year-old has been in talks with the Black Cats throughout the month but the departure of Lee Johnson has revived the deal. The former Sunderland boss was understood to be lukewarm about the prospect of Defoe’s return.

But as reported by i earlier this month the player had his heart set on returning to Wearside after his surprise departure from Rangers and has hung on for Sunderland’s offer.

A source close to the deal confirmed to i the move was now “very close” and his return to the Black Cats should be confirmed before the end of transfer deadline day.

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The news will give Sunderland a much-needed lift after a weekend in which they lost 6-0 to Bolton, which was a major setback for their promotion hopes.

The Defoe return – on a short-term deal until the end of the season – is seen as a way of boosting their striker options while also injecting some experience and know-how into the squad. It will, of course, also lift the mood among supporters.

Defoe scored 37 goals in 93 appearances for the Sunderland between 2015 and 2017 and was a talismanic presence, helping inspire Sam Allardyce’s great escape. He is assured of a hero’s welcome at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats are now sifting through expressions of interest in their managerial vacancy after Lee Johnson was dismissed at the weekend.

Mick McCarthy has expressed his interest in the role while there is also interest from Grant McCann, the former Hull City boss. It is understood that owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is directly involved in the hunt for a successor to Johnson.

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Brentford were the first Premier League team to kick off the action on transfer deadline day by announcing the signing of Christian Eriksen.

“I can’t wait to get started,” the former Tottenham playmaker announced with a smile to camera as he confirmed a remarkable return to football eight months after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.

Burnley also announced the arrival of towering Dutch striker Wout Weghorst, following on from Bruno Guimaraes’ move to Newcastle and Liverpool’s signing of Luis Diaz.

With more clubs expected to make late signings, here’s everything you need to know about deadline day, including the deals to look out for and every transfer completed so far…

What time does the transfer window close tonight?

• Premier League/EFL (England): 11pm
• SPFL (Scotland): 12pm
• Bundesliga (Germany): 5pm
• La Liga (Spain): 11pm
• Ligue 1 (France): 11pm
• Serie A (Italy): 7pm

All times GMT

Other deals to look out for

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has not played for Arsenal since 6 December following disciplinary issues and then being at the African Cup of Nations with Gabon. The forward has been linked with a move to Barcelona or Juventus.

Tottenham missed out in recent days on signing Adama Traore, who went to Barcelona from Wolves, and Luis Diaz, who joined Liverpool from Porto. The north London club are trying to bring in two players from Juventus – winger Dejan Kulusevski and midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.

Spurs are also trying to offload record-signing Tanguy Ndombele back to Lyon and also find clubs for Dele Alli, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil on loan.

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Donny van de Beek, who has struggled for playing time at Manchester United, could get a chance to revive his Premier League career by joining Everton on loan, while Jesse Lingard’s future is still up in the air.

Newcastle are also looking to add more players to ensure their first season under Saudi ownership does not end in relegation, with the team currently in the drop zone. Reims striker Hugo Ekitike and Aston Villa defender Matt Targett have been heavily linked.

Arsenal

Out: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (loan to Roma), Harry Clarke (loan to Hibernian), Folarin Balogun (loan to Middlesbrough), Pablo Mari (loan to Udinese), Sead Kolasinac (free to Marseille), Deyan Iliev (released), Brooke Norton-Cuffy (loan to Lincoln), Karl Hein (loan to Reading), Tyreece John-Jules (loan to Sheffield Wednesday), Calum Chambers (free to Aston Villa), Ryan Alebiosu (loan to Crewe)

Aston Villa

In: Philippe Coutinho (loan from Barcelona), Lucas Digne (£23m from Everton), Robin Olsen (loan from AS Roma), Calum Chambers (free from Arsenal)

Out: Keinan Davis (loan to Nottingham Forest), Wesley (loan to Internacional), Aaron Ramsey (loan to Cheltenham Town), Caleb Chukwuemeka (loan to Livingston), Anwar El Ghazi (loan to Everton – with option to buy), Jaden Philogene-Bidace (loan to Stoke City), Cameron Archer (loan to Preston), Arjan Raikhy (loan to Grimsby), Louie Barry (loan to Swindon)

Brentford

In: Jonas Lossl (loan from FC Midtjylland), Christian Eriksen (free)

Out: Lachlan Brook (loan to Adelaide United), Joe Adams (undisclosed to Dundalk), Joel Valencia (loan to Agrupacion Deportiva Alcorcon), Patrik Gunnarsson (undisclosed to Viking), Dominic Thompson (loan to Ipswich Town)

Brighton

In: Kacper Kozlowski (£8m from Pogon Szczecin)

Out: Aaron Connolly (loan to Middlesbrough), Kacper Kozlowski (loan to Royale Union St-Gilloise), Leo Ostigard (loan to Bologna), Jurgen Locadia (free to Bochum), Taylor Richards (loan to Birmingham), Christian Walton (undisclosed to Ipswich Town)

Burnley

In: Wout Weghorst (Undisclosed from Wolfsburg)

Out: Chris Wood (£25m to Newcastle), Jacob Bedeau (loan to Morecambe), Anthony Glennon (loan to Barrow), Ethen Vaughan (loan to Farsley Celtic)

Chelsea

Out: Lewis Baker (undisclosed to Stoke City), Juan Castillo (loan to Charlton), Tariq Uwakwe (undisclosed to Crewe)

Crystal Palace

In: Killian Phillips (undisclosed from Drogheda United)

Out: Jake O’Brien (loan to Swindon Town), Jacob Montes (loan to RWD Molenbeek), James Taylor (loan to Tonbridge Angels), Jay Rich-Baghuelou (undisclosed to Accrington Stanley), Ollie Webber (undisclosed to Portsmouth), Rob Street (loan to Newport County)

Everton

In: Vitaliy Mykolenko (undisclosed from Dynamo Kiev), Nathan Patterson (£16m from Rangers), Anwar El Ghazi (loan from Aston Villa – with an option to buy)

Out: Lucas Digne (£23m to Aston Villa), Ellis Simms (loan to Hearts)

Leeds

In: Mateo Joseph Fernandez (undisclosed from Espanyol)

Out: Ryan Edmondson (loan to Port Vale), Cody Drameh (loan to Cardiff), Josh Galloway (loan to FC United of Manchester), Bobby Kamwa (loan to Dunfermline)

Leicester

Out: Jacob Wakeling (loan to Barrow), Filip Benkovic (released), Kasey McAteer (loan to Forest Green), Josh Eppiah (loan to Northampton)

Liverpool

In: Luis Diaz (£49m from Porto)

Out: Tony Gallagher (undisclosed to St Johnstone), Morgan Boyes (undisclosed to Livingston), Vitezslav Jaros (loan to Notts County)

Manchester City

Out: Ferran Torres (£54.8m to Barcelona), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (loan to Stoke City), James Trafford (loan to Bolton Wanderers), Tommy Doyle (loan to Cardiff), Patrick Roberts (undisclosed to Sunderland), Finley Burns (loan to Swansea)

Manchester United

Out: Teden Mengi (loan to Birmingham), Ethan Laird (loan to Bournemouth), Axel Tuanzebe (loan to Napoli), Anthony Martial (loan to Sevilla), Amad Diallo (loan to Rangers), Reece Devine (loan to Walsall)

Newcastle

In: Kieran Trippier (£12m from Atletico Madrid), Chris Wood (£25m from Burnley), Bruno Guimaraes (£40m from Lyon)

Norwich

Out: Tom Dickson-Peters (loan to Gillingham), Tyrese Omotoye (loan to Carlisle), Bali Mumba (loan to Peterborough), Rocky Bushiri (loan to Hibernian), Gassan Ahadme (undisclosed to Burton Albion), Onel Hernandez (loan to Birmingham), Josh Martin (loan to Doncaster Rovers), Jordan Hugill (loan to Cardiff)

Southampton

Out: Sam McQueen (retired), Jack Bycroft (loan to Dorchester), Dan Nlundulu (loan to Cheltenham Town), Jeremi Rodriguez (loan to CF Burgos), Caleb Watts (loan to Crawley Town), Kayne Ramsey (loan to Ross County), Dynel Simeu (loan to Carlisle)

Tottenham

Out: Kion Etete (loan to Cheltenham Town), Dilan Markanday (£500,000 to Blackburn Rovers), Jack Clarke (loan to Sunderland), Nile John (loan to Charlton)

Watford

In: Maduka Okoye (£5m from Sparta Rotterdam), Hassane Kamara (£4m from OGC Nice), Samir (undisclosed from Udinese), Edo Kayembe (undisclosed from KAS Eupen), Samuel Kalu (undisclosed from Bordeaux)

Out: Maduka Okoye (loan to Sparta Rotterdam), Pontus Dahlberg (loan to Gillingham), Ryan Cassidy (loan to Bohemian)

West Ham

Recalled from loan: Mipo Odubeko (from Huddersfield Town)

Out: Conor Coventry (loan to MK Dons)

Wolves

In: Hwang Hee-Chan (£15m from RB Leipzig), Hayao Kawabe (£500,000 from Grasshoppers Zurich), Chiquinho (£3m from Estoril)

Out: Theo Corbeanu (loan to MK Dons), Lewis Richards (loan to Harrogate Town), Luke Matheson (loan to Scunthorpe), Hayao Kawabe (loan to Grasshoppers Zurich), Leonardo Campana (loan to Inter Miami), Dion Sanderson (loan to Birmingham), Adama Traore (loan to Barcelona)

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Mick McCarthy is interested in the Sunderland vacancy and contact has been made with the Black Cats’ hierarchy.

Sunderland dismissed Lee Johnson on Sunday evening after a 6-0 defeat at Bolton that was branded one of the worst in the club’s history.

Although Sunderland sit just two points from the top of League One, there were reservations in the club’s hierarchy about the club’s recent form and a feeling that they are underachieving with the resources available to Johnson.

The club don’t have a candidate lined up but are looking for a relatively swift appointment who can make an instant impact. The Black Cats, well placed in the promotion race, play six games in three weeks in February.

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Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman and owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus will lead the recruitment process and the vastly experienced McCarthy appears a decent quick fix with a history of leading teams to promotion.

Indeed McCarthy is understood to be willing to take the role until the end of the season with the remit of achieving promotion – which is Sunderland’s expectation this year.

Other options include Grant McCann, who was dismissed by Hull City last week but led the club to promotion last season, and Paul Cook – who left Ipswich Town earlier this season.

McCarthy has taken a break from the game since leaving Cardiff but is keen to get back into management and is no stranger to the expectation on Wearside.

McCarthy managed Sunderland for three years between 2003 and 2006, winning promotion to the Premier League on a reduced budget. He has subsequently managed Wolves, Ireland, Ipswich and the Bluebirds and has the credentials if Sunderland are looking to make a quick appointment with the ability to galvanise the dressing room.

Meanwhile, the departure of Johnson could re-open the door for a move for Jermain Defoe. Johnson was lukewarm about the striker and there were reservations in Defoe’s camp about committing without the prospect of playing much.

But a new manager may change that picture. Defoe is keen on a return to Sunderland and, as a free agent, does not need to move before today’s January deadline.

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The agent chuckles when asked whether his phone will be busy on deadline day. “I honestly don’t know what the football industry did before Whatsapp,” he says.

“Every morning in January you’ll wake up to five or six messages that were sent after midnight. I think everyone in football is sending those messages late at night or first thing in the morning through the whole month.

“It’s like the industry is living on Red Bull or espressos, just teeing up deals that largely don’t happen but they’re doing the work on just in case.

“Then on deadline day all hell breaks loose. The phone just lights up all day. Maybe ten or 15 years ago it was just the manager or the Chairman taking the lead on the deal, but nowadays there’s a team of analysts, the loan manager, the data scientist – they will all want to know some information about a player.

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“An incredible amount of work goes into just about every transfer. Which makes it a bit crazy to think that so much can happen in a few hours on the final day.”

Deadline day is football’s 24 hours of soap opera. “Footballers do enjoy it, watching it all play out,” says Jose Enrique, the former Newcastle and Liverpool player turned player agent who was speaking to inews in association with Boylesports football betting.

He was in the thick of the action one year, disaffected at Anfield, available for transfer but priced out of a move away by the Reds. Not that the message had got through to everyone.

“I was sat on my couch with my wife and they mentioned my name. I turned the volume up and they said I was at the Hawthorns about to sign for West Brom. I just said: ‘Am I?’ It was quite funny really.”

Another year, he was glued to the TV as his Newcastle team-mate Andy Carroll was flown by helicopter to Anfield. “None of us knew it was happening, not even him. We’d seen him the day before. He was a big player and it just sucked the life out of us,” he said.

Deals like Carroll’s are vanishingly rare on deadline day. But that’s not for lack of effort.

In offices up and down the country, the lights don’t go out until the early hours. “The cliché is true,” one executive says.

“It’s scattered pizza boxes, lots of coffee. Even when you’re not buying someone, there’s outgoings, under-23 players to take care of. And you’re always alive to getting that phone call on a deal you put the work into. It always runs late.”

Deadline day deals fall into three categories. The most common is the transfer that has been revived because something else has fallen through.

Then there is the ‘Hail Mary’ punts by agents aimed at desperate clubs that press the panic button before the 11pm deadline. One executive who spoke to the i believes these are “increasingly rare” as even teams in League One and Two have now assembled sophisticated recruitment teams.

But they still happen: “We get folders of clips emailed to us, unsolicited, at 3pm or 4pm with about seven hours before the deadline. Someone must be biting on those because it happens every year – and it’s always a bit of a surprise to see the player you’ve been emailed about actually got that move,” one executive said.

The final category is the move that has been bubbling away for weeks and weeks – but it is only on deadline day that a club is prepared to actually sanction it.

“It’s not possible to do a deal solely on deadline day. All the deals you see will have been lined up quite a long way in advance and you’re waiting for things to fall into place,” Brentford’s Director of Football Phil Giles told me.

“You’re never working on just one deal, you’re working on three or four. You have your preferred one over here and it’s a classic thing of spinning plates.

“You’re trying to do your preferred one but if that’s not possible and they’ve gone elsewhere you have to flip onto the next one and you try to get that done in time.”

The mid-season deadline is much more frantic because EFL clubs have all played 48 hours before the deadline.

“Everyone holds their breath on injuries. I had one deal fall through because two centre-backs got injured in the same match, they had to do an emergency defender deal and so a month’s work went down the drain,” the agent says.

For most executives, deadline day follows a strict script teed up on the off chance transfers can be brokered. “A lot of hard work goes in behind-the-scenes with, usually, not a lot to show for it,” one told i.

One says he schedules 8am calls on deadline day to colleagues to see if any of their “priority deals” can be resurrected. There are several slots booked in at private hospitals “just in case” medicals are required at short notice.

At the biggest clubs in the land, this isn’t a problem. Manchester United have an MRI scanner at their Carrington training ground just for that purpose.

As a consequence of Brexit and the Covid pandemic, it is now almost solely domestic business that can be done at short notice.

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Clubs require Governing Body Endorsement from the FA before signing and the paperwork takes longer to complete for players from overseas.

“Before, you could have booked and flown a player over first thing in the morning, done the medical in the afternoon and signed him. But that’s not possible anymore – it needs to be much more advanced before that final day,” an executive admitted.

“Clubs in Europe are starting to realise that. January has been much more realistic – if clubs need the money, they’ve been more willing to talk.”

The next morning “everyone in football takes a break”. Except for the players, who just move on quickly. “It’s such a resilient profession. There’s maybe a joke and then they just crack on,” the agent said.

“If you’re in that situation where you want to leave it can be a really frustrating day,” Enrique concurs.

“January feels like the longest month – you may have been in talks for three or four weeks and it goes into the last few hours. But if you don’t get your move, you just get on with it.”

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The cavalry is arriving at Goodison Park – and just in the nick of time.

Everton’s extraordinary managerial search is over and Frank Lampard has begun the long trudge back from the abyss by recruiting Donny van de Beek on loan.

With the Toffees being dragged into the thick of a relegation fight, it is about time the adults took over.

A move for the Manchester United midfielder, coveted by Newcastle and Crystal Palace during a January window in which he feared he might not be released from his gilded cage at Old Trafford, feels like a statement of intent from Lampard.

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Sidelined by Ralf Rangnick, they have recruited a player with both a point to prove and a skillset that can add an extra dimension to a team that looked so pedestrian under Rafa Benitez. A club announcement on his capture is expected on Monday, perhaps when they unveil Lampard.

It is the sort of blast of positivity that Everton needed after a horrendous couple of weeks. Protests outside the ground after the defeat to Aston Villa last week reflected exasperation among Evertonians at the way the club has been allowed to veer off course so dramatically under the ownership of Farhad Moshiri.

When the league position was compounded by the uninspired decision to interview Vitor Pereira for the manager’s job, it felt like someone in authority at Everton needed to intervene.

It’s understood that Bill Kenwright’s counsel was that Lampard would be the only one to carry the supporters – and the decision was fast-tracked by Pereira’s surreal Sky Sports interview.

Everton would have benefited from waiting until the summer to make a change, when the range of managerial options and time might have offered them a chance to marry their football operations review with the ideal candidate – perhaps Brighton’s innovative Graham Potter.

But their league position and the thudding reality of a relegation six-pointer in eight days made Lampard, available, experienced and arriving with a good reputation, the only real choice for the role.

He will have funds and 24 hours to make a few additions and will leverage Chelsea connections and his reputation to try and turn deals into reality.

Van de Beek, it should be noted, was only sold on the move when he learned the former Chelsea manager would be appointed shortly.

In a move that combats accusations that he lacks experience, Lampard will be joined by Paul Clement on his backroom staff. A Director of Football will be appointed in the months to come and Lampard could get a say in that if results go his way in the next few months.

Off-the-field, Everton are looking to re-engage with the supporters and the recruitment of former Liverpool Echo sports editor Dave Prentice as the club’s Communications Manager follows Graeme Sharp’s appointment as Non-Executive Director.

Few care more deeply about the club than Prentice but this is not jobs for the boys.

He’ll offer a critical voice when required and as much as Everton need Moshiri to take control of the club, they also require him to get back on message.

If Lampard has his way, the narrative might finally be an optimistic one in the weeks to come.

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Frank Lampard will be officially unveiled as Everton’s new manager on Monday after finalising a two-and-a-half-year deal at the club.

Everton moved for Lampard after sacking Rafa Benitez following a run of one win in 13 games. They sit 16th in the Premier League, just six points above the relegation zone.

Lampard, 43, has been out of work since being sacked as Chelsea boss last January and was chosen over a number of candidates after a fraught fortnight for the Toffees hierarchy.

He is now working on adding to his backroom staff and getting a few deadline-day transfers over the line before 11pm Monday night.

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It is understood the former England midfielder is already close to landing Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek on loan until the end of the season.

Paul Clement, Carlo Ancelotti’s former assistant at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, could team up with Lampard.

Lampard did “good job” at Chelsea

Former Chelsea playmaker Pat Nevin spoke to i earlier this week and believes Lampard’s reputation at Stamford Bridge was not tarnished, despite his sacking.

“Chelsea fans thought he did a good job. He brought a lot of the youngsters in really quickly and it was brave to be able do it.

“He was a good manager but they just happen to have a great one now.”

On whether Lampard would be the man to instil a set philosophy at Everton, a club that has sorely lacked any semblance of one, Nevin added: “He’s very positive and attack-minded, Frank. It would be a high tempo game and he would have a philosophy but it would need a bit of time.”

Read more from i’s interview with Pat Nevin here

Lampard’s appointment brings to an end Everton’s two-week search for a replacement for Benitez, who departed the club following the 2-1 defeat at Norwich.

Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri initially looked set to appoint Vitor Pereira as his seventh manager in six years – but protests from Everton fans, including graffiti daubed outside Goodison Park, halted that venture.

Club legend Duncan Ferguson was also interviewed, while Wayne Rooney declined to be considered, instead focusing on hauling Derby out of the Championship relegation mire.

Lampard, one of Rooney’s predecessors at Derby, at least has Premier League managerial experience. In his first months at Chelsea he was unable to sign players due to a transfer embargo, which paved the way for youngsters to flourish in his set-up.

Everton themselves have spent more than £500m on players under Moshiri only to make minimal progress. Lampard was eventually given money at Chelsea when their embargo was lifted, but both there and at Derby proved to be an effective coach too.

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Newcastle United are working on further transfers as their negotiating team hope to strike deadline day deals which could take their spending in January close to £100million.

Newcastle, who have spent more than £30m on Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood, announced the £33m signing of Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon as they teed up an £11m deal for Dan Burn.

But they still hope to add a forward or a left-back before 1 February and are also in talks over loan deals.

There is still a sliver of hope that a move for Jesse Lingard could be revived, although that could run very late as Manchester United continue to insist on a sizeable ‘survival bonus’. The ball is in the Red Devils’ court as Newcastle look at other options after pulling off two impressive deals.

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In their most eye-catching bit of business Newcastle have signed Lyon’s highly-rated midfielder Guimaraes on a four-and-a-half year deal that does not include any relegation release clause – a sign of increasing confidence at the club that they can extricate themselves from the battle at the bottom.

“Bruno is a hugely exciting talent and has been one of our primary targets so I’m delighted to secure him. He strengthens the group immediately ready for the challenge ahead,” Eddie Howe said.

The Magpies will also close out a deal for Brighton’s Northumberland-born Dan Burn on deadline day after agreeing an initial outlay of £11m on the centre-back, who is moving back to the club that released him at the age of 11.

That will be of particular relief for Howe, who has seen deals for Sven Botman and Diego Carlos fall through in an at times fraught January transfer window.

Howe had made a centre-back signing a priority and Burn, who is another arrival with vast Premier League experience, arms him with the tools to keep the team in the Premier League.

There may also be outgoings at St James’ Park, with several players attracting loan offers.

Young midfielder Elliot Anderson is set to depart. Luton and Sheffield Wednesday are interested.

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Manchester United have responded to domestic violence allegations made against striker Mason Greenwood.

The club said it was aware of “images and allegations circulating on social media” regarding the 20-year-old in a statement issued on Sunday morning.

“We will not make any further comment until the facts have been established. Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind,” it added.

Harriet Robson, who is reportedly Greenwood’s girlfriend, posted a series of disturbing photos and audio recordings to her Instagram account earlier on Sunday.

A caption read: “To everyone who wants to know what Mason Greenwood actually does to me.”

In the images, Ms Robson is seen with cuts to her face and bruises on her body which she claims were caused by Greenwood.

Greenwood started out playing for the Manchester United youth team, making his debut for the Premier League squad in 2018. He made one appearance for England as a substitute in 2020, but withdrew from the Euro 2020 squad due to an injury, and was passed over for the September 2021 World Cup Qualifiers.

The player is yet to respond to the allegations.

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There is a theme to the most painful heartaches of Senegal’s national team. The World Cup quarter-final in 2002, when they came closer than any other African team to reaching a semi-final; Afcon finals in 2002 and 2019; the quarter-finals of the same competition in 2017; must-not-lose final group matches at Afcon 2015 and the 2018 World Cup – in all six matches Senegal failed to score.

The last one hurt the most; Aliou Cisse’s side were eliminated by virtue of receiving more yellow cards than Japan.

Senegal are African football’s great exceptions. All but one of Africa’s top-nine ranked Fifa nations have won their continental Championship, but not them. They are its highest-placed team with nothing to show for it bar great potential, several memorable nights and, ultimately, no glorious ending. Only the 2002 World Cup, when they humbled France and Sweden and eliminated Uruguay too, deserves to escape that reputation.

If superstar players are no stranger to Afcon, they are typically sprinkled sparingly and are thus forced to absorb overwhelming pressure to carry their teams: Salah for Egypt, Weah for Liberia, Pele for Ghana, Eto’o for Cameroon. Again Senegal are different.

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We have surely never before had such a concentrated collection of players at high-profile clubs in an Afcon squad. This year’s tournament contains 26 players contracted to clubs currently in the top three of the five major European leagues. Senegal account for nine of those 26.

And then there’s manager Cisse, captain of that wondrous 2002 vintage who captured neutrals’ attention so much. Cisse was groomed for this role, first as assistant to the Olympics squad and then as the country’s Under-23 manager.

He’s an exception too: major African nations seem to cycle through head coaches, often appointing guns for hire pre-major tournament, but not Senegal. Three of the 24 managers at Afcon 2021 had been in position for longer than three years; Cisse was appointed in 2015.

But time without glory creates pressure and evaporates permissible excuses. Before the tournament, Paris Saint-Germain centre-back – and defensive partner of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly – discussed how the quality of the squad and repeated failure to get tournament success over the line had placed extraordinary importance on a tournament for which Senegal entered as favourites.

“Cissé is under great pressure; a lot of the supporters don’t want to cut him slack,” Cisse said. “The squad is full of players for big European clubs. So people wouldn’t forgive Cissé if it’s anything other than taking the trophy or at least getting into the final again.”

Until now, Senegal’s failure has been a familiar one: goals. With four-fifths of the defence coming from Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Napoli and PSG, Cisse’s team are yet to concede. But they have only scored three times in four matches, one a 97th-minute Sadio Mane penalty and the other two against nine-man Cape Verde in the last-16. With only 12 shots on target – lower than six of the other seven teams in the quarter-finals – and a shot accuracy of 23 per cent (ranking them 21st of the 24 tournament teams), Cisse has been let down by poor finishing. But he knows the buck will always stop at his feet.

Senegalese supporters have been buoyed by a comparatively gentle run of opponents. In their five matches including Sunday’s quarter-final, Cisse’s team are yet to face a team ranked in the world’s top 70 or Africa’s top 13. But then that only manufactures another obvious question: what happens when they play someone better?

Perhaps we have got this all wrong. Senegal were ranked 99 in the world in July 2013. Their brilliant 2002 team never got to another final, but maybe we are discussing over-achievement rather than a failure to reach potential. Senegal is only Africa’s 23rd-ranked country by population and has a GDP per capita considerably lower than almost all of the continent’s major footballing nations: Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria.

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Instead this crop of players is down to both the formation of Generation Foot in Dakar in 2000, which helped to produce Mane and Ismaila Sarr, amongst others, and the wave of Senegalese migration to France that began in the mid-1960s. Combine that latter point with the success of the national team in the early 2000s and you have a Senegalese diaspora who are more motivated than ever before to play for their country of heritage. Of those nine players at top-three clubs in major leagues, six were born in France.

But then explaining the journey to the edge of success does not absolve you of the pressure to deliver it. This is a better team with better players than the one that entertained the world in 2002. Senegal began this tournament as favourites and must end it as Africa’s champions. Anything else and their captain of 20 years ago may not be responsible for trying to take them into the next Word Cup.

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