On the face of it, Everton seemed to smash the summer transfer window.

Early business, plenty of it and plumb signings in returning hero Wayne Rooney then Gylfi Sigurdsson just before the window shut had Evertonians buzzing.

Owner Farhad Moshiri sanctioned a £130million outlay and the mood at Goodison on the eve of the season was buoyantly optimistic.

But it didn’t take a brain surgeon to work out that boss Ronald Koeman’s biggest problem was how to replace the goals scored for fun by Romelu Lukaku.

Travelling Evertonians will have few happy memories of this Italian Job (
Image:
Reuters)

Striker Lukaku's early-summer £75m departure to Manchester United brought in big money. But more vitally the deal gave Koeman time to find a replacement.

He didn’t come close to doing so.

Granted, that’s no easy task in Lukaku’s case but Koeman’s summer transfer window is looking a touch smoke-and-mirrors right now.

The Belgian improved himself big time at Everton, and is now heading to another level at Manchester United.

He has well and truly left Goodison Park behind — and in the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia Koeman’s powder-puff attack was crying out for the kind of aggressive presence he once gave them.

Koeman's failure to replace Romelu Lukaku looked like trouble — and so it's proving (
Image:
Reuters)

For while a worrying Europa League defeat by Atalanta – Everton’s third straight loss – will rightly be highlighted as a defensive disaster for Koeman, the back line can’t shoulder all the blame.

Defending starts from the front – and while there are mitigating circumstances for both Dominic Calvert-Lewin, a youngster learning his trade, and Croatian newcomer Nikola Vlasic, playing only his second game for the club, Koeman has to take a look at his own role.

Rooney is record goal-scorer for both Man United and England, but it’s wrong to expect him to be a miracle man at this stage of his long and illustrious career.

For a while, in his pomp, Rooney propped up United, especially post-Cristiano Ronaldo.

But asking a man who turns 32 next month to have that kind of influence on an Everton side inferior to his former teams is a step too far.

Rooney would surely be faring better if Koeman had spent the Lukaku cash on a top-quality striker.

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud, we know, was a target. That didn’t happen.

Instead the Dutch boss spend a combined £15m on Sandro Ramirez, 22, and 19-year-old Vlasic.

With no goals for in their last three matches and eight against, it doesn’t look such a great summer window after all.

Roll on January!