Jordan Pickford suffered agony for his nation once again, shipping twice as Spain overpowered a stuttering England side to win their fourth European Championship.
The shot-stopper will now return to Goodison Park, where he will ready himself for his eighth successive campaign as Everton's No. 1 between the sticks.
The Three Lions might have flattered to deceive when concerning playing style this summer but Pickford was exemplary throughout, with reporter Dominic King praising his contributions as "seismic".
He's one of the country's greatest goalkeepers, and while more people are starting to recognise this, the Toffees supporters need no reminder, having enjoyed his performances as one of the club's very best for many years.
He's rightly one of Everton's highest earners, but he's not the highest, with Abdoulaye Doucoure earning quite the pretty penny on the blue half of the River Mersey.
The Mali international has been a stalwart for Everton but he's on the decline, and given that he's stepping into the final year of his contract, it might be worth cashing in now.
Why Everton should ditch Abdoulaye Doucoure
Everton signed Doucoure from Watford in a £20m deal four years ago, with the attacking midfielder since completing 130 appearances, scoring 17 goals and adding 11 assists.
He's been a valuable servant and has even been hailed as his side's "catalyst" in attack by his manager, Sean Dyche, but he's now 31 years old and lost his goalscoring touch – his principle quality – during the latter half of the 2023/24 campaign.
Indeed, while Doucoure bagged seven goals across 32 Premier League appearances last year as he bounced between central midfield and a makeshift striking role, he blanked across 15 of his final 16 outings, failing to maintain the impressive form of the first few months.
And energetic he may be, averaging 4.5 ball recoveries per game (Sofascore), but he's also failed to showcase the kind of athletic robustness needed for true success in Dyche's system, winning a lowly 35% of his contested duels last term.
A ball recovery is defined by the number of loose balls recovered by a player.
Which, of course, brings us round to that aforementioned point: Doucoure is earning quite the pretty pay packet at Everton. As you will see below, he's even earning more than Pickford, one of the outfit's best players and biggest leaders.
1.
Abdoulaye Doucoure
£130k-per-week
2.
Jordan Pickford
£120k-per-week
3.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
£100k-per-week
3.
James Tarkowski
£100k-per-week
5.
Idrissa Gueye
£80k-per-week
5.
Michael Keane
£80k-per-week
Doucoure was actually attracting attention from the Saudi Pro League back in January, with Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq making a formal approach, so perhaps opening that window once again would be a good idea.
With Everton accelerating talks to sign Napoli attacking midfielder Jesper Lindstrom, Doucoure could find himself playing a more peripheral role next term, and considering the player's lofty earnings and the club's present financial situation, it might not be a half-bad idea to let him depart and usher in the new wave of talent.
The Premier League club already need to replace Amadou Onana, who is joining Aston Villa for a fee of £50m, but this will undoubtedly be taken care of in due course. With Lindstrom coming in and Dele Alli targetting a resurgence, Doucoure should be sold.
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