Everton is a footballing institution that is steeped in history, although very little of their success can be attributed to the club's recent glory, or lack of it, having not won a major trophy since the FA Cup back in 1995.
The eight-time English champions and five-time FA Cup winners have never looked like returning to their trophy-laden period in the 1980s and have instead dwindled down the Premier League table.
With the Toffees more accustomed to battling relegation rather than challenging for silverware these days, it is easy to get lost in the doom and gloom, but the club has still unearthed some gems in the transfer market, especially in the early to mid-2000s.
Tim Cahill's £2m move from Millwall in 2004 turned out to be one of the biggest bargains since the turn of the millennium, as was flying full-back Leighton Baines, who joined from Wigan Athletic for £6m in 2007.
While that pair reached iconic status in an Everton jersey, it was the signing of Thomas Gravesen from Hamburg in 2000 that set the trend for unearthing gems in the transfer window.
How Thomas Gravesen became an Everton fan favourite
Gravesen burst onto the scene at Danish club Vejle Boldklub and Hamburg before truly rising to prominence as a midfield sensation for Everton after joining for £2.5m.
A technically gifted midfielder with an eye for goal, the Dane quickly became a fan favourite and almost had the unique ability to change the atmosphere, conducting those around him playing his tune.
Away from the field, he was nicknamed the "mad dog" for his eccentric personality and maverick attitude, left an ever-lasting mark in his five years at Everton, becoming a crucial component to the energy and dynamism in Walter Smith's midfield, while his importance increased further with the arrival of David Moyes in 2002.
Widely recognised for his lung-bursting runs from deep and possessing a canon of a strike that struck fear into opposition defenders, Gravesen utilised that weapon to devasting effect at Goodison Park.
Thomas Gravesen's career in numbers
Clearly, his eccentricity off the field didn't prevent him from showing his talents on it, making 167 appearances for Everton, including a return on loan in 2007/08, scoring 12 and assisting 12 across both spells.
Having left a monumental impact on Merseyside, helping the club finish fourth in the 2004/05 season, Gravesen is also fondly remembered, if somewhat through slight bemusement, for sealing a £2.3m move to Real Madrid at the height of the club's Galactico era in 2005.
Although the 66-cap Danish international possessed the unerring technical attributes, namely his ability to dribble his way upfield and glide through opposition defences from deep, it was still odd for many during that time to see him playing alongside the likes of Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane and the great Brazilian Ronaldo.
Unfortunately, it never worked out as most envisaged during his time at the Bernabeu as he made 49 appearances and failed to reach the heights that his years at Everton promised.
Despite keeping a low profile since retiring from professional football in 2008 at the age of 33, he's certainly been busy.
What Thomas Gravesen is doing now…
According to the Danish tabloid BT, Gravesen knew he needed to plan for life after football, investing his wages into several financial businesses.
The tabloid claimed that the former midfielder made tens of millions from those investments and although they didn't say what he spent them on, he took his newly-found riches and moved to Las Vegas in 2012. The rest? Well, he was in Vegas…you do the math.
He put the money, estimated to be around £100million, to good use, gambling in Las Vegas’ legendary casinos, where he developed a particular passion for poker.
He was reportedly a regular at Vegas’ high-roller poker tables, where he was able to go under the radar as a non-celebrity.
From a solid box-to-box midfielder during his playing days to a poker aficionado worth hundreds of millions, it's been a whirlwind time for Gravesen since retiring, to say the least.
