Everton have a knack for allowing their homegrown talents to flourish within the first-team set-up at Goodison Park when given a chance, past players such as Leon Osman, Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley were impressive for the Toffees when transitioning into the men's team.
Osman, in particular, goes down as a hall-of-famer for those with Everton connections – sticking it out with the Toffees throughout his lengthy career, scoring 62 goals from an astonishing 454 matches over 16 years.
But, as was the case with Rooney and Barkley, often a top talent decides to up and leave their hometown team in the pursuit of success elsewhere and more prestige.
Sold by Frank Lampard last year – the player in question handing in a transfer request to speed up his exit from Merseyside – Anthony Gordon joined Newcastle United for a substantial transfer fee and has performed reasonably well for the Magpies under boss Eddie Howe so far.
How much did Newcastle United sign Anthony Gordon for?
Newcastle would break the bank to bring the 22-year-old winger to St James Park, signing the Liverpool-born midfielder for £45m back in January.
This transfer fee meant Gordon was Newcastle's second most expensive buy ever at the time, now in the bronze medal position to Sandro Tonali and Alexander Isak as the Magpies continue to openly flex their muscles in the transfer market.
The excessive transfer fee to bring Gordon to Tyneside was justified arguably, the youngster in flashes at Goodison Park showed the potential he possessed to become a future top talent.
He would score seven goals from 78 appearances when transitioning from the youth teams at Everton to the first team fold in the Premier League, netting four goals in his final full campaign for the club before Newcastle swooped in and purchased the young attacker.
How has Anthony Gordon performed since leaving Everton?
It hasn't been all smooth sailing for Gordon since joining Newcastle, the young midfielder no longer a bright spark in a team fighting against relegation.
Now, he was part of the new-look Newcastle United who were aiming for top-four football instead of surviving year after year by the skin of their teeth.
He would only score once during his first 16 games with the Magpies, netting on the final day of last season away at Stamford Bridge in a 1-1 draw versus Chelsea.
But, this campaign so far, he has started to come into his own featuring for Howe's men.
Not only are his goals and assists on the up – netting two goals and assisting a further two in the Premier League from just seven outings – but his commitment and work ethic all around for the Tynesiders has improved too.
The 22-year-old is in the top 98% of wingers in Europe for tackles this season, completing 2.66 per 90 minutes according to FBRef. That aggression and determination has further seen Gordon block a remarkable amount of shots in Newcastle's favour, completing 1.53 per match.
He's not just an electric winger who can provide a goal or assist, but he's also transforming into a midfielder who is more than happy to pick up the dirty work for his side even if it does come to his detriment at times. Indeed, Gordon was suspended for Newcastle's visit to West Ham United, his discipline coming under scrutiny.
But, this aggression and determination means that Gordon has cemented himself as a regular under Howe this campaign and has left Everton wondering whether they should have kicked up more of a fuss to keep their homegrown talent.
So good have his performances been that he's outperformed every Toffees man so far this season with his goals and assist output, current Everton winger Dwight McNeil only has one assist so far this campaign but from two matches less than Newcastle's number ten. When it comes to outright contributions, meanwhile, only Abdoulaye Doucoure can match him.
Still, Gordon is now showing why Newcastle paid £45m for his services – and at only 22 years of age still – he should only improve for the Champions League side in the years to come.
