Inside Everton's deadline-day shambles: How Folarin Balogun deal collapsed and the early warning signs it was doomed, the Beto gamble that backfired, how David Moyes was let down - and mutinous fans' plans to protest 'unambitious' owners

Jack Grealish announced his return with the perfect sound bite: 'Every time I see an Everton fan, it's just pure love.'

But come 2pm this Sunday, the darling of Everton's fanbase may have a very different perspective.

When Grealish's white Lamborghini purred out of Everton's Finch Farm training base on Tuesday evening it gave awaiting fans a symbol of hope. Yet, before his engine was but a distant whirr, Everton's deadline day business had not just stalled but gone kaput.

Indeed, a shambolic day's business left manager David Moyes with only one senior striker for the next four months and just 18 outfield players.

It is only a few weeks since chief executive Angus Kinnear branded last season's 13th-place finish as a 'failure' in the eyes of the owners as the Friedkins were 'winners' he said. Then offering the line: 'Everyone is thinking about how we challenge for Europe and don’t fade. Our job in the coming weeks is to ensure the squad has enough depth to mount an even more compelling challenge.'

Yet Moyes can barely fill a squad with senior players against Manchester United on Sunday unless he names two goalkeepers on the bench.

To little surprise, in the wake of Tuesday's business, Everton supporters groups voiced their dissatisfaction with the club's leadership. The Fans' Forum demanded accountability, the Fan Advisory Board asked for answers from Kinnear and the 1878s volunteer group, instrumental in the tifos and banners placed around the stadium on matchdays, declared they were stepping down, because 'we do not feel that our fanbase’s ambitions and the club’s ambitions align right now'.

Further, more vocal, backlash is expected at the Hill Dickinson on Sunday.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, nothing but the best is good enough. The club motto that adorns the vast circular ceiling of the first-team dressing room and is branded across the £800million stadium concourse, is regarded now as little more than empty words. A nod to what a proud club once held true.

It was just after midnight when Monaco striker Folarin Balogun declared he no longer wished to sign for Everton.

The player had already been late for his flight over, and Monaco were apparently 'slack' providing the appropriate medical records to help expedite the £40m transfer.

By that stage Everton striker Beto was already being unveiled as a Fiorentina player for a knockdown £15m.

Had Balogun got on his scheduled flight in the morning, and Monaco been more forthcoming, Everton argue they would have had greater time to identify and rectify the situation so much sooner.

As it transpired, 'a significant issue' was identified with the USA international's medical. The 25-year-old, who had played in the World Cup with heavy strapping on his left knee, sat and waited as a solution was sought.

Calls went out to Manchester United for Joshua Zirkzee and to Aston Villa for Tammy Abraham. A £10m loan deal was offered to United but rejected at 9.30pm. Abraham wanted to stay.

Word was out the deal was in jeopardy.

Everton officials restructured the fee with Monaco to a much lower figure with an appearance-related trigger for additional payments. Monaco agreed so both clubs and the player signed the deal sheet just before 11pm. The press were notified. 

An hour later, and with the final stages of the deal being tidied up, Balogun, aware Everton had searched for alternative solutions, made it clear he wanted to go back to Monaco.

How could this happen?

Balogun had become Moyes's priority even before it became evident last Sunday that the club were attempting to complete a £35m deal to re-sign Richarlison with Iliman Ndiaye, the club's best player, going the other way to Tottenham for £60m.

That idea had been dismissed then accelerated in the direction Ndiaye wanted when Manchester City stepped in to sign him after seeing Cody Gakpo could not be prised from Liverpool.

Still, £65m was at least £15m under market price for a 26-year-old with three years left on contract.

Ndiaye had wanted to leave Everton for much of the summer and told officials that was the case. He’d rejected several contract offers, so his sale was expected. As was Beto's but Italy's earlier transfer deadline of 7pm meant Everton always ran the risk of him departing without having a replacement, and so it transpired.

Perhaps the warning signs about the club's true financial status were already there.

Days previously, a £2m deal for Manchester United's 20-year-old striker Ethan Wheatley had been put in place. All was agreed, only for Everton to pull back. Financial priorities lay elsewhere.

Then came the incendiary news that the club had agreed to sell Harrison Armstrong, an academy graduate, one of their own, to Nottingham Forest for £40m.

At Bournemouth that day, travelling supporters made their feelings clear: 'Don't sell Armstrong, you're going to have a riot on your hands.' Their chant aimed at the watching Kinnear and who he represents.

'We still need to add players to what we've got,' Moyes warned later. 'I've been saying it for quite a while.

'If I have a message to the supporters? Their manager is an Evertonian.'

Dan Friedkin himself was apparently instrumental in ensuring Armstrong stayed and Moyes must have thought the proverbial fire had been put out. That he could look forward.

However, by Monday evening it was known that Ndiaye would head for City, and that Tim Iroegbunam – a midfielder liked by Moyes – would seal a £22m switch to Hull. With Beto’s sale to Italy included, Everton had recouped almost £100m.

Nathan Patterson was allowed to join Torino for £1m on the proviso another right back was coming in. That was Fulham's Kenny Tete, whom Everton had tried to sign on a free 12 months ago, but that ran into issues.

Strengthening that position, something even Prime Minister Andy Burnham had pleaded for, was crucial. Moyes’s prime target was Strasbourg’s Guela Doue but the recruitment team wouldn’t make the necessary £30m investment. With the route to Tete blocked they went back to France for Lyon's £3m utility player Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

When Chelsea came calling with the offer of £65m for James Garner on Tuesday evening, Moyes must have wondered what challenge could possibly come next.

Jamie Vardy or Anthony Martial on a free perhaps? Not yet, at least.

An avid reader, the Scot once professed to turning to the musings of the great explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton for inspiration in ways to lead his teams. Shackleton's famous ship was called Endurance, and Moyes will need all he can muster to see this expedition through with the Friedkins at the helm.