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In January David Moyes was appointed Everton manager for the second time with the club one point above the relegation zone.

Eight months later and the club have turned a significant corner, avoiding the drop by 23 points, moving to the state-of-the-art Hill Dickinson Stadium and bringing in nine players in a summer of record recruitment.

No side have picked up more points than Everton since the start of May, and they sit fifth in the Premier League.

The biggest challenge facing Everton this summer was how best to overhaul a threadbare squad following the departure of nine senior players, including first-team regulars Abdoulaye Doucoure, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Harrison and Ashley Young.

The response has been comprehensive.

Everton have signed nine players at a net cost of £97m (based on initial fees), their highest net outlay in a summer transfer window and more than they had spent over the previous seven seasons combined (£71m).

It is a significant turnaround for a club which have twice been subject to points deductions for breaching profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) and only escaped relegation on the final day of the season two years ago.

“If you’d told me that this summer we’d do a net spend of that, I’d have been excited and delighted,” says former Everton midfielder Leon Osman.

“Yes, we wouldn’t mind another defender, due to injuries, and a 30-goal striker, but for one window it’s outstanding.

“It’s exciting times for everyone.”

Should Merlin Rohl’s loan move from Freiburg be made permanent for an agreed £17m – the reported stipulation is that Everton need to avoid relegation for the clause to be triggered – their net spend will climb to £114m.

In the summer of 2020, with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, Everton recruited six players, including Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez, for a net spend of £77m.

Everton’s financial outlook has been improved by a combination of factors.

Spending between January 2021 and January 2025 was effectively non-existent, with the club instead making £86m in profit from player sales to help balance the accounts.

The takeover by the Friedkin Group has been transformational, with Everton’s crippling debts turned into equity, repaid or refinanced on more favourable terms.

Significantly, most signings made this summer were completed after the end of the Premier League’s financial year on 30 June, helping to manage future PSR calculations.

Only the decision to turn Carlos Alcaraz’s loan move from Flamengo into a permanent deal was finalised before the start of July.

The second part of Everton’s challenge this summer was to learn from past mistakes.

During the near nine-year ownership of Farhad Moshiri, eight players signed for at least £20m left for nothing, meaning that £188m in fees effectively walked out of the door – an unsustainable economic model for a club with limited resources.

Osman says Everton have realigned their transfer strategy to best suit the needs of the club, underpinned by marquee loan signing Jack Grealish, who faces former club Aston Villa on Saturday.

The England winger has provided two assists in each of his two Premier League starts for Everton, having done so only twice in his previous 191 league appearances.

“He’s arguably the best signing by any club this summer,” said Osman, who made 437 Everton appearances between 2003 and 2016.

Fellow new arrival Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, signed from Chelsea for an initial £24m, averages more chances created per game than any Everton player since the start of last season, while young centre-forward Thierno Barry, a £27m arrival from Villareal, has impressed with his hold-up play in four appearances.

Tyler Dibling, Everton’s biggest summer signing – the fee could rise to £40m – is yet to feature in the league but adds another dynamic option to an attack which ranked 18th in the top flight for goals from open play last season (25).

The early signs are that Everton’s recruitment has been more successful than in recent seasons – a satisfactory end to a window in which Moyes had earlier aired his frustrations at a lack of activity.

“Moyes has signed players that will be good in the dressing room – they bring energy and a little bit of everything,” said Osman.

Despite their significant outlay on transfers, Everton have not turned into one of the Premier League’s biggest spenders.

Osman, who spent time on Everton’s pre-season tour to the US, believes Moyes will be targeting a first trophy for the club since the 1995 FA Cup.

“This is what Premier League football is all about – you do a fantastic job and suddenly expectations are through the roof,” Osman said.

“But if you take a step back, mid-table would be a really good stride forward. David Moyes will manage those expectations.

“The team has to keep enjoying themselves. They’ve shown their quality; they’ve shown their levels of performance. They need to demand it from each other.

So much has happened over the past seven days, including international debuts, cycling retirements and discussions over golf T-shirts with suspicious silhouettes.

Setbacks are inevitable in sport, but the brutal nature of the first major sucker punch of Keely Hodgkinson’s career is that it followed the pinnacle.

Two torn hamstrings later, the Olympic 800m champion would not change a thing.

After a 376-day wait to make her competitive return following that crowning moment at Paris 2024, the 23-year-old’s explosive comeback in August suggests she has timed her comeback to perfection.

“The last 12 months have been quite a journey,” Hodgkinson told BBC Sport.

“Weirdly, though, I wouldn’t change any of it because I’ve learned so much.

“I’ve realised how strong I am. I have such a great team around me and I’ve also had time to process everything that happened last year.

“It’s been super frustrating at times, when I’m working hard but not seeing any rewards for it and your body’s letting you down.

Hodgkinson’s ambitious targets for 2025 were initially wrecked by a left hamstring tear, sustained only three days before her indoor 800m world record attempt at the launch of her own event – the Keely Klassic – in February.

It also denied her world and European indoor title bids, before another major setback – a grade-three tear of the right hamstring in May – threatened her hopes of making the World Championships.

She admitted it had been an “upsetting” 12 months when she addressed the media before her return in Silesia, just four weeks out from Tokyo.

Running the fastest time of the year – one minute 54.74 seconds, a mere 0.13 seconds short of her British record – in a statement comeback performance, before taking another commanding win in Lausanne, it was as if she had never been away.

“I’m just grateful to be back now, because my biggest fear was missing the championships,” said Hodgkinson.

“I definitely spiralled a little bit. There was no plan for a period of time. It was literally day by day – we just had to play it by ear. And even coming back to running, it’s like, ‘OK, can I do a session today? Do I feel something?’

It is in Tokyo – the scene of the breakthrough Olympic silver she achieved as a teenager four years ago – where, despite all odds, Hodgkinson will target a first World Championship gold.

Hodgkinson, who has long stated her desire to finish her career as one of her nation’s greatest athletes, vowed she would never accept second again following a third global silver in as many years at the previous World Championships in 2023.

The people closest to her have been crucial in harnessing that ambition – through the good times and, more recently, the difficult ones – not least husband-and-wife coaching duo Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows.

But world 800m medallist Meadows said there was a time when they feared Hodgkinson would not be ready, adding: “There was a point Keely probably thought that as well.”

Meadows told BBC Sport: “I thought we’d get there but she could be fifth or sixth in Tokyo, and she wouldn’t want that.

“When you have gold, you only want gold [but] I think she would have probably taken a medal considering the year she has had.

To that extent, Hodgkinson views everything which could follow as a bonus.

The challenges of the past year have provided a sense of freedom rarely granted to Olympic champions – and which she is unlikely to have felt since her most recent visit to Tokyo thrust her into the spotlight.

She has taken the opportunity to rebuild solid foundations, with her increased strength reflected in personal bests in the gym, and says she has emerged as determined as ever.

Hodgkinson is expected to meet M11 Track Club training partner Georgia Hunter Bell in the 800m final on 21 September, following the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist’s decision to switch events after running the third-fastest time this season.

“We’re really hoping for some big things out there. It would be amazing for the M11 group if we could do a one-two, and I definitely think we’re capable of doing that,” Hodgkinson said.

“This year has definitely given me a sense of slowing down and enjoying the process, being grateful that I can run and, when I can, [making sure] I’m going to enjoy everything, give it everything and probably complain a bit less,” she joked.

Setbacks are inevitable in sport, but the brutal nature of the first major sucker punch of Keely Hodgkinson’s career is that it followed the pinnacle.

Two torn hamstrings later, the Olympic 800m champion would not change a thing.

After a 376-day wait to make her competitive return following that crowning moment at Paris 2024, the 23-year-old’s explosive comeback in August suggests she has timed her comeback to perfection.

“The last 12 months have been quite a journey,” Hodgkinson told BBC Sport.

“Weirdly, though, I wouldn’t change any of it because I’ve learned so much.

“I’ve realised how strong I am. I have such a great team around me and I’ve also had time to process everything that happened last year.

“It’s been super frustrating at times, when I’m working hard but not seeing any rewards for it and your body’s letting you down.

Hodgkinson’s ambitious targets for 2025 were initially wrecked by a left hamstring tear, sustained only three days before her indoor 800m world record attempt at the launch of her own event – the Keely Klassic – in February.

It also denied her world and European indoor title bids, before another major setback – a grade-three tear of the right hamstring in May – threatened her hopes of making the World Championships.

She admitted it had been an “upsetting” 12 months when she addressed the media before her return in Silesia, just four weeks out from Tokyo.

Running the fastest time of the year in one minute 54.74 seconds – a mere 0.13 seconds short of her British record – in a statement comeback performance, before taking another commanding win in Lausanne, it was as if she had never been away.

“I’m just grateful to be back now, because my biggest fear was missing the championships,” said Hodgkinson.

“I definitely spiralled a little bit. There was no plan for a period of time. It was literally day by day – we just had to play it by ear. And even coming back to running, it’s like, ‘OK, can I do a session today? Do I feel something?’

It is in Tokyo, the scene of the breakthrough Olympic silver she achieved as a teenager four years ago, where, despite all odds, Hodgkinson will target a first World Championship gold.

Hodgkinson, who has long stated her desire to finish her career as one of her nation’s greatest athletes, vowed she would never accept second again following a third global silver in as many years at the previous World Championships in 2023.

The people closest to her have been crucial in harnessing that ambition – through the good times and, more recently, the difficult ones – not least husband-and-wife coaching duo Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows.

But world 800m medallist Meadows said there was a time when they feared Hodgkinson would not be ready, adding: “There was a point Keely probably thought that as well.”

Meadows told BBC Sport: “I thought we’d get there but she could be fifth or sixth in Tokyo, and she wouldn’t want that.

“When you have gold, you only want gold [but] I think she would have probably taken a medal considering the year she has had.

To that extent, Hodgkinson views everything which could follow as a bonus.

The challenges of the past year have provided a sense of freedom rarely granted to Olympic champions – and which she is unlikely to have felt since her most recent visit to Tokyo thrust her into the spotlight.

She has taken the opportunity to rebuild solid foundations, with her increased strength reflected in personal bests in the gym, and says she has emerged as determined as ever.

Hodgkinson is expected to meet M11 Track Club training partner Georgia Hunter Bell in the 800m final on 21 September, following the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist’s decision to switch events after running the third-fastest time this season.

“We’re really hoping for some big things out there. It would be amazing for the M11 group if we could do a one-two, and I definitely think we’re capable of doing that,” Hodgkinson said.

“This year has definitely given me a sense of slowing down and enjoying the process, being grateful that I can run and, when I can, [making sure] I’m going to enjoy everything, give it everything and probably complain a bit less,” she joked.