In the canteen at Finch Farm there is now a photo of Harrison Armstrong. It is one of the first things you see when you enter the training ground and maybe that is symbolic.
The teenager is not working from Halewood at the moment because he has swapped Goodison Park for Pride Park, where his introduction to the starting XI has been influential in igniting Derby County’s bid for Championship survival.
Two starts in the past week have laid the foundation for six points, his first display earning him a man of the match award against Blackburn Rovers before he completed 90 minutes as he helped throw a spanner in the works of Frank Lampard’s all-conquering Coventry City.
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The framed photo is a relatively new addition to the meeting area-cum-canteen, the spot where the TV cameras set-up for interviews with players and staff. It is not unusual to walk through the car park towards the building and see the silhouette of a player sitting down as they talk through an upcoming game with a broadcaster. It is often James Tarkowski.
Armstrong’s photo, snapped on his Premier League debut against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season, points towards the change in mindset at Everton.
For several years this has been a club that, on and off the pitch, has been in an almost daily fight for survival. Few have dared look too far into the distance because the horizon has typically been clouded with storms.
All of a sudden, after the completion of the takeover and the surge up the table inspired by the return of David Moyes, there are no questions over how the next bill will be met, or where the next point will come from. There is a future that all associated with the Blues can dream of.
Armstrong was once again selected for the England Under-18s squad this week, the latest sign of progress in a fledgling career that has exploded this season. His inclusion comes with Jarrad Branthwaite called up to the next age group, the centre back set for another burst with the Under-21s.
Branthwaite’s selection was a talking point at Finch Farm - mainly over the fact he was not called back up to the senior squad. There was a sense of surprise.
While injury scuppered his chances before Christmas, and while he has perhaps not quite hit the immense heights of last season just yet, he has grown into this campaign well after a tough start and David Moyes has been really taken by the young talent currently at his disposal.
Few who have watched him over these last 18 months - whether as supporters or support staff - have any doubts he will be a talisman of the national set up for years to come, even if his next opportunity at that level has been pushed back.
It is a luxury for thoughts at Everton to be able to turn to the future. Spring during recent years has been a time of crisis. But not this one.
While the gap to the bottom three is not yet big enough for Moyes to tell reporters he can move into planning mode for next season, more and more attention is being directed that way behind the scenes.
There is a growing sense of ease on the southern fringe of Merseyside that, for once, things might actually work out OK. Whether the focus is on Armstrong, Branthwaite or the new stadium Moyes still can’t bring himself to visit, the belief now is that the future is a source of excitement not fear.
