Everton has announced four key appointments to lead the club's football structure, transitioning from the traditional director of football model.

The club has appointed Nick Cox as technical director, James Smith as director of scouting and recruitment, Chris Howarth to oversee the club's football strategy and analytics operations, and Nick Hammond to manage the club's player trading activities.

Smith will join Everton in September, transitioning from his role as director of scouting and recruitment at the City Football Group.

He joined Manchester City from Manchester United in 2014, before being elevated to the recruitment lead for the City Group’s global portfolio of clubs in 2023.

Cox is currently serving as academy director at Manchester United, a position he assumed in 2019, following his appointment as head of academy operations in 2016.

Howarth has collaborated with 14 clubs across Europe via his Insight Sport data consultancy. As part of his integration, The Friedkin Group has acquired Insight Sport.

Hammond joins after most recently acting as a transfer consultant for both Leeds United and Newcastle.

He has previously held the role of director of football at Reading for 13 years, technical director at West Brom for three years, and head of football operations at Celtic.