Everton manager Ronald Koeman appears to have signalled his intentions regarding his squad after five players were not given a shirt number for the forthcoming season.

Winger Aiden McGeady, strikers Oumar Niasse, Conor McAleny and Leandro Rodriguez and defender Luke Garbutt were all left out of the initial allocation confirmed by the club.

Republic of Ireland international McGeady played small parts in the Toffees' first two domestic pre-season games but did not travel to Germany for two matches in Dresden and his number seven shirt has been taken by Gerard Deulofeu.

Niasse, Everton’s third most expensive signing for £13.5million, only arrived in January from Lokomotiv Moscow but managed just 152 minutes of competitive football.

The Senegal international played only one half of a behind-closed-doors match during the club’s Austrian training camp but has not featured in any of Everton’s four friendlies.

England midfielder Ross Barkley has swapped his number 20 shirt for the number eight of Bryan Oviedo, while new signing Idrissa Gueye has been given 17 after fellow midfielder Mo Besic opted to change to number 21.

Academy graduates Tom Davies and Kieran Dowell, who featured briefly at the end of last season, have been promoted to numbers 26 and 28 respectively.