With the takeover of Everton imminent, the focus is turning to what The Friedkin Group's biggest priorities will be once their deal with Farhad Moshiri is made official. But for one of the club's greatest modern-day players, the first job for the Friedkins has to be sorting out a situation at Finch Farm that has gone slightly under the radar.

After one of the most tumultuous periods in the club's history, the future looks brighter for the Blues. As well as new owners and a new leadership team, a new stadium stands tantalisingly on the horizon. But it remains to be seen just what team takes to the field at the magnificent waterfront venue come August.

It has been somewhat lost against the backdrop of events off the pitch, but Everton currently have 13 players whose permanent or loan contracts run out in the summer.

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And for former Blues captain Phil Jagielka, who made 385 appearances for the club across 12 distinguished seasons, it is a situation that the Friedkins, who also own Italian giants Roma, need to resolve and quickly.

"Hopefully the takeover could be perfect timing," Jagielka exclusively told the ECHO. "All Evertonians want this to be the start of a new era. Obviously we know what's happening at the end of the season, with moving to the new ground, but it would be nice to have some sort of fresh start before that and get things in order so that we can hit the ground running when we leave Goodison.

"What's happening off the field will have had a massive impact in the changing room - I'm not particularly saying on the pitch, but I think I’m right in saying half the squad at least is either on loan or coming up to having their contracts renewed.

"You'll have players who want to stay but aren’t allowed to stay yet or can’t get the deal they potentially want, and then the club can use that (the takeover situation) for the players they don’t want to potentially keep, so there’s so many bits and bobs that can be factored in when the ownership hasn’t been sorted out.

"So if we can get the takeover done - we’d like it today, tomorrow or within a week but preferably before the transfer window - we can get things moving in the right direction and we can hopefully secure the players we want to keep, give a straight-up answer to the players who potentially won’t be here next season, and hopefully get a chance to go and strengthen in January. That would be the perfect scenario for the club."

Goalkeepers Joao Virginia and Asmir Begovic, captain Seamus Coleman and fellow defenders Ashley Young, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate (who is currently on loan at West Brom), midfielders Abdoulaye Doucoure and Idrissa Gueye, and forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin are all in the final years of their Everton contracts. Another striker, Neal Maupay, who will also be a free agent come July, has already agreed a permanent move to Marseille, where he is on loan.

In addition, Oriel Mangala, Jack Harrison, Jesper Lindstrom and Armando Broja are due to return to their parent clubs after their respective loan spells end, although the Blues do have have options to buy the latter two.

Jagielka believes the uncertainly must have made it difficult for manager Sean Dyche, who along with director of football Kevin Thelwell, is also heading into the last six months of his contract.

"Sean has done a great job, no-one knows exactly what he’s had to deal with because it’s not been made common knowledge what’s gone on in his tenure, but the fact of the matter is the club isn’t where we’d like it to be," said former England international Jagielka, who left Everton in the summer of 2019 and returned to Sheffield United.

"No-one else does it in the Premier League so how are you supposed to run a squad when most of the squad are out of contract? It happens a lot in the Championship because there’s more turnover, with free transfers and more wheeling and dealing, but to try and compete in the best league in the world, and over half of your players don’t have a clue about their future… okay, some are on loan, and they could always go back to their clubs, but the ones who aren’t, they're only human.

"They’ve got families and they will want to plan what they're doing next year, with schools, houses… We’re not quite at that stage yet because there’s still four or five months to go in the season, but all this has to be factored in.

"The majority of the time the player who has got two or three years left on his contact will be the one who plays his best football because that’s all he’s got to concentrate on. But realistically we’re going into the last six months of people’s contracts and Sean can’t go around - well, he has to - and say, ‘I don’t know what’s happening’.

"But there’s only so many times as a player you want to hear, ‘I don’t know what’s happening’ or ‘I can’t offer you a deal yet’. At the same time some of the players will be getting touted by their agents about other clubs and they’ll be getting whispers in their ear. It’s a constant cycle.

"You are going to get more relaxed and better performances from the coaching staff and the players, and everyone around the place, if they know where they are and what they’re going to be doing next season."

Dyche led Everton to safety after taking over the club midway through the 2022-23 campaign with a dramatic final-day victory over Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

Last season was ultimately more comfortable for the Blues, finishing 14 points above the relegation places despite the fact that the club was hit with two separate points deductions after being found guilty of breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules.

It was hoped that Dyche and his players, despite the ongoing takeover uncertainty, would be able to kick on this season. But they currently sit just three points above the bottom three ahead of hosting second-placed Chelsea on Sunday before travelling to defending champions Manchester City on Boxing Day.

However, spirits have been lifted by a gutsy 0-0 draw at third-placed Arsenal and a vital 4-0 home victory over Wolves, which were two of four clean sheets in the last five matches.

And Jagielka, who will be a pundit for Amazon Prime's live coverage of the trip to Man City, said: "It was an interesting start! We were very strong defensively last year and this year we decided to give a couple of two-goal leads away! But again, it’s really tough.

"The squad has been put together not in an ideal way, but the manager has got players in there that he knows he can trust. It’s all about getting through this season, getting the takeover done and getting in the new stadium.

"There’s so many things hanging over the club that aren't football related but have an effect. But I think once that’s all done, we can draw a line in the sand, we can move forward and set our goals a little bit higher, whereas at the moment it is about getting through the season, surviving, finishing as high as we can, and I think to be honest the boys have done well.

"They’re in a tough run of fixtures. Obviously the Liverpool game got called off, but to be playing so many teams who are competing for Champions League places is a tough one, but it was a great result away at Arsenal. It showed the character of the boys, which was never in doubt, but it should give them a little bit of confidence with the Man City and Chelsea games around the corner.

"If we get through this little period, and hopefully be in a positive position, and the takeover goes through, while I don’t think it’ll be an instant wave of the wand and everything will be okay, it will definitely be a step in the right direction."

Phil Jagielka will be working as a pundit on Prime’s coverage of Man City vs. Everton on December 26. Prime will exclusively show every Premier League match on Boxing Day with over 10 hours of football available to fans at no extra cost to their Prime membership.