If already increasingly likely, then on Saturday it became an absolute no-brainer.
Ask any Evertonian, and they would think likewise. And while Roberto Martinez has insisted no decision will be taken until the end of the season, surely behind the scenes the Catalan is looking to grease the wheels.
Gareth Barry’s loan move to Goodison must be transformed into a permanent transfer.
The midfielder has been a hugely impressive performer since being snapped up on a temporary deal from Manchester City shortly before the transfer window snapped shut almost three months ago.
Barry has still yet to finish a Premier League game on a losing side for Everton, having been ineligible to appear against his parent club in the sole top-flight defeat for Martinez’s side at the Etihad.
And if there were any lingering doubts surrounding the on-loan midfielder, then they were surely banished by his performance in the last weekend’s derby thriller.
View gallery
The Merseyside derby in pictures
View gallery
Having impressed alongside James McCarthy in central midfield during the first half, Barry then switched seamlessly to left-back once Leighton Baines was forced to limp off shortly after half-time.
At an expected cost of just £1million, signing Barry would, on the form shown thus far, represent the type of value for money for which Everton have become famed during the past decade.
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what happens after the end of this season because it is something you have to worry about,” says the 32-year-old.
“But in terms of talking about it with Everton, no, there have been no discussions. The manager has said in the press that he will wait to the end of the season and I am comfortable with that too.
“At the minute, things are going really well, but it’s probably better to look at the big picture in May and assess everything then.”
Barry adds: “I’ve said before that the people here are really friendly. The people at the training ground have been at the club for years so I took to them really well.
“I didn’t come here with any expectations – I didn’t know what to expect really. But the first game was an ideal start in terms of settling in. This business is about results, and they have gone well too.”
With Everton having ended the game on Saturday with five players under the age of 23 – all of whom were making their debut in the derby – Barry provides much-needed experience, as evidenced by the manner in which his presence has helped ease McCarthy into the Goodison fold while deflecting the attention from a player who is the second-most expensive in the club’s history.
That, though, wasn’t enough for Manuel Pellegrini who, on taking over at City in the summer, was blunt in his assessment Barry was no longer part of the future at the Etihad.
“In terms of being professional, it does not bring you up or down,” says the midfielder. “You always have to back yourself.
“Personally, you train as hard as you can and like the England thing it is down to individuals. This manager (Martinez) is backing me but Pellegrini wasn’t but as a player I haven’t changed.
“Even after being told (at City) in pre-season that it might be best to move on, I still felt I was really training well.
“I remember one session I trained really well and I thought the manager was going to come in and say ‘if you keep training like that you will get your chance’ but he came over and said ‘it’s still not going to happen, there are a lot of midfielders ahead of you’.
“That was probably the lowest for me. I went into the dressing room thinking that now I have to start looking for another club.
“I felt I could do a good job at Everton but if I’d stayed at City and got an opportunity, I felt it could have happened again there. It was made clear that wasn’t going to happen, though.”
With Baines now sidelined until the New Year having suffered a fractured toe when accidentally trod on by Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, Martinez must decide on a permanent deputy at left-back, starting with the visit of Stoke City on Saturday.
Barry, while impressive on Saturday, is unlikely to be the long-term answer, not least as it would mean disrupting midfield, while shifting Sylvain Distin across would do similar to the defence.
Of less disruption would be introducing the fit-again Tony Hibbert at left-back or handing the lesser-spotted Bryan Oviedo a first Premier League start in more than a year.
Martinez, though, sees Oviedo more as a natural wing-back down the left, and would more likely be inclined to use the Costa Rica international when fielding a three-man central defence.
While leaking three goals from set-pieces against Liverpool – a shortcoming Martinez is keen to eradicate – Everton have kept five clean sheets in 12 Premier League games this season, a figure bettered only three other clubs.
Skipper Phil Jagielka admits there were early concerns the expansive style under the new manager could compromise defensive solidity, but believes the team has responded to the challenge.
“With the transition under the new coaching staff and the new style of play, we were a little bit concerned that defensively we could have been opened up a little bit easier,” says Jagielka.
“But there have been some fantastic performances from the whole of the defence and in midfield.
“To keep five clean sheets this season has been positive and we’ve been fortunate to have Tim Howard in decent form, but we are not taking anything for granted.
“We are pleased to have recorded five clean sheets but we are looking to build on that. Hopefully that will be the case and it will make the strikers’ jobs that little bit easier up top.”
For up-to-the-minute transfer rumours and football stories subscribe to the RSS feed.
For the rest of today we have a one-off special offer on new baby Everton kit.