Everton have been slowly knocking on the door of the top-six all season and there are plenty of Toffees fans here in the Tavern that think their side could pip Manchester to sixth place come the end of the season!

It’s been a tough old season for Ronald Koeman and his side, who, had they been more consistent at times this season, might have had a chance at breaking into the top-four in the league.

But it could be another season without European football and looking forward, punters here in the pub want to see a summer of solid improvements to a team that already has a decent-looking spine.

And with things looking good enough moving forward, we want to have a look at a couple of players that didn’t quite live up to expectation at Goodison Park but then went onto shine elsewhere.

So with that in mind, here’s 2 players that thrived after leaving Everton…

Shane Duffy

Shane Duffy was never a player who deserved much stick from his time at Goodison Park because quite simply, he didn’t get enough minutes in the side.

But he’s currently playing his football with impressive-looking Brighton and Hove Albion, where he’s formed a formidable partnership with Lewis Dunk at the heart of the defence.

There are few Toffees fans here in the pub that are happy to see him doing well and that won’t if Brighton are promoted at the end of the season.

Shkodran Mustafi

Clanger alert!

Everton had the German defender as a youth prospect but let him go to Sampdoria where he began to prove his worth. From there he moved onto Valencia where his reputation really began to grow and, of course, he joined Arsenal in the summer of last year. He’s been very good this season, too, and so Everton really did miss a trick with this one.