Jordan Pickford dispatched a blunt text message to his pal Jack Grealish upon hearing there was a chance he could join Everton.
"Hurry up, you!" England's number one quipped, believing the loan deal for the Manchester City star crystallises the club's ambition as much as the £750m Hill Dickinson Stadium which makes its Premier League debut on Sunday.
"I'm good friends with Jack and when I heard the rumour, I sent him a couple of messages. He asked what the club is like, what it is like around the place, and I said if you come you will love it," says Pickford.
"I had a couple of conversations with him and then I saw a tweet [suggesting a deal was agreed], so I just rang him. I was on the golf course and said, 'When are you coming?' He said it was pretty much all done. I was like: that's a box ticked!
"I said the place is brilliant, the lads are great, the staff, people say it is the People's Club and it is a proper home club.
"I just look at him when Manchester City won the Treble, how good he was. He played the majority of the games. I saw a clip the other day when City played Liverpool and he was chasing [Mohamed] Salah back and he stopped a goal. You see his quality on the ball, but you see stuff like that and it shows what it means to him at both ends of the pitch. Working hard on and off the ball. There is a World Cup next year and if he plays here ... I think everyone knows he is going to excel here."
There have been numerous contenders for the role of Everton saviour in recent times, from new owners The Friedkin Group, the returning manager David Moyes, and now a sparkling arena which promises financial stability and a home fit for the club's historic status.
More often than not it was Goodison Park - or the vibrant fans who rose to the challenge when relegation was threatened - who came to the club's rescue.
With one rebuild complete, now another reconstruction is under way and Pickford hopes signings such as Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall represent a new era in which the club lays stronger foundations.
"Everyone knows what type of character Jack is. He comes in and lights the place up, you should see him in training, his levels, he is a top, top player and to get him at Everton is massive," says Pickford.
"It shows ambition and what the owners want, which is success. To bring him and Kiernan as well - it's high level.
"The ambition from the club is there for Europe. Everyone wants to play European football, but everything that has gone on with Everton up above over the last few years means we've never really had that ability to push higher up the league to get that European football.
"Hopefully this year is a good year. We're not going to say we're going to get into Europe this season, but we've got ambitions to be up that top half of the table where Everton Football Club should be. It's about us performing week in, week out and wherever that takes us it takes us.
"Kiernan won the Conference League with Chelsea, and the Club World Cup. So we've got lads coming in who have won titles, won leagues, won in Europe. They're going to strive, they're going to push and they're going to show their levels, and we've got to follow. There have to be leaders. Everyone's got to be leading in their own way. We've got vocal leaders, and we've got people who will lead in different ways. Everyone's got to push each other to strive to be the best version of Everton and the badge we can be."
As a senior figure within Moyes' plush new dressing room, Pickford is one of the key influencers.
"This is my what, eighth or ninth season, is it?" he asks at one point. "My ninth? F---ing hell that's some paper round that!"
He appreciates a huge season beckons for club and country with a World Cup on the horizon and James Trafford pushing his international claims as part of City's anticipated title push.
"People have been trying to dismantle my [England] shirt for a few years now and I'll keep pushing and keep showing my levels," says Pickford.
"It's always good to have a good competition. In any position, whether it's club or country, you want to be fighting for the shirt because it'll bring the best out of you.
"There will always be questions. The only one there is no question about in an England shirt is Harry Kane.
"There's competition for places all over. You're always going to have that, you've got to thrive on that and you've got to step up to the plate and improve yourself.
"Don't let anyone take your shirt, it's yours to hold on to and keep improving. It's about putting performances in for Everton's badge, which will lead me to be successful for England's badge."
The opening-day defeat at Leeds United was an inauspicious start - a habit which has plagued Everton in recent years. They are desperate to establish a more upbeat mood in their new home, with Brighton the first league visitors on Sunday.
"We've just got to be the Everton we were at Goodison and take it over to the new stadium," says Pickford.
"The stadium is mega, the whole thing is mega and the fan experience should be great. But the fan experience is only good if we get results - that is the main thing.
"You go to all these stadiums now, prime examples are Arsenal and Tottenham. It's a new chapter for Everton. Goodison has so much history and that experience, tight pitch, fans on top of you, you will never get that back again but as a new experience you cannot ask for more from the football club.
"And hopefully we get good showers in the dressing room now as well!"